Obscuro
by Darkscythe Drake
Summary: "The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination." - H.P Lovecraft. A young Naruto stumbles upon a house that shouldn't be there, and in it, an ancient being that will show him secrets beyond all imagination. But even after delving deep into the abyss, will he still remember who he is? Beta'd by MetalmanMecha. Now has TV Tropes page!
1. Prologue

Obscuro – A Naruto Fanfic

Hi guys! This is a revised version of the prologue. Adds a little past perspective in comparison to the other one. I recommend listening to creepy organ music while reading this story – anything from Adrian von Zeigler and Misanthropik will do.

Here, the Academy age is 8, while the Uchiha massacre happens when Sasuke is 8 as well.

I do not own Naruto. I do however own my OCs.

Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – human thought

" " – demon speech

' ' – demon thought

Prologue – The Watcher

Avesta.

An ancient name.

Its origin and meaning lost to time.

Avesta. That is the name of this village. A small village, far from any of the kingdoms. Surrounded by a small mountain range, it was rather hard to find.

For the nobles, it was like any other backwater village in existence. Small, dirty, unsightly, filled with equally dirty, poor peasants.

For those poor peasants, Avesta was a regular village, if not a bit more run-down. Away from annoying tax collectors, away from snooty nobles and away from any bandits, seeking to pilfer unsuspecting travelers. In some ways, it was a refuge, disconnected from the outside world.

For the people of Avesta themselves? It was home.

Not a perfect home by any means, but still home. Crop terraces ringed the old yet well-kept wooden huts, providing bread and green year-long. Underground springs kept their throats wet. The sturdy mountain goats that roamed the rocky ring supplied sport and game for the men.

Despite these bounties of nature, Avesta had nothing to offer for any kingdom; meaning it was often ignored by the various rulers, leaving its people to fend for themselves, especially during the winter cold. This however was not the only reason why this little village was avoided.

For the past several months, strange things happened during the nights. People disappeared. Strange sightings all over the mountains. Whisperings at night, uttering strange words, sometimes filled with hunger and despair.

To Avesta's back stood the tallest mountain for several leagues, known to most as Damavand. Its black slopes were jagged, littered with sharp black rocks, geysers that spouted ash and hot steam. It loomed over the village like a beast of legend, waiting to descend and devour its prey. Throughout the long history of the village, no one has dared to climb Damavand's hellish slopes.

Unknown to its villagers however, a small number of tunnels lay hidden on the mountain's back, leading to its cavernous heart. In there, a secret meeting was taking place. A brotherhood was about to perform a ceremony there, unaware of the consequences that they would unleash, on Avesta and the world…

Illuminated by candles, black-cloaked men surrounded a large circle, all waving incense. Their leader, wearing a blood-red cloak and holding a gleaming black dagger, walked forward.

It had taken time, to gather their brothers from across the land, to ferry the supplies and tools without letting the locals notice, but they had succeeded. The stars were right this evening. It was time to begin.

In the center of the circle lay a mummified corpse, ringed by bone and blood, atop it a black feather. The leader knelt, raised his knife and chanted:

"Sery sel badama

Sery sjena bsmym

Hypuj na bhary au nplauhm

Bnala eu krbn z ljm

Sel hale bhare

Tu hasjn bfllm, hnra

El arbeh knft hsmym

Mexrt brt haple

Hre at hnra!"

He plunged the knife into the mummy as the other men knelt down with one hand on the ground. The circle around them lit in a flash of red, arcs of lightning dancing about. The corpse began to spasm as a black liquid seeped from within its bandages.

From outside the mountain, clouds began to gather around it as red lightning streaked across the sky. The villagers hurried back to their homes, gazing upon its peak with anxiety and fright.

Suddenly, a pillar of purple light shot up from the mountain and into the heavens. The red lightning struck and coiled around it, as though trying to trap it. The smell of sulfur began to permeate the village, many coughing and holding their noses while other uttered prayers to whatever deity they believed in.

Back in the mountain, the leader had stepped away from the corpse as it melted into that black liquid. Hearing the cracks of thunder from outside, he knew that they had succeeded. The black liquid filled the circle, covering all of the bones in it. The pillar of light then burst from the circle, high up to the peak of the mountain and beyond. After a few deafening seconds, there was silence.

The leader leaned forward, mentally cheering at his success. A few seconds later however, he frowned. The pool should've been bubbling by now. Instead, it just lay there, with not even a ripple from its sides.

He waited, unmoving from his spot. He could hear some of the brothers' restless murmurs. Trying to ponder what had happened, he noticed that the pool began to let out black vapors. His eyes widened. Something went horribly wrong.

Before he could inform the rest however, the entire pool turned into that black mist and enveloped the room. He couldn't see anymore, but he could hear the mad clamoring of the others.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.

-Obscuro-

After the freak storm suddenly vanished, the villagers clamored out of their houses. Thankfully, nothing was damaged. The smell and clouds remained however. As they tried to regain their bearings, a young hunter started to make his way around Damavand.

He had noticed some time ago that strange cloaked men were lurking around the mountain. He silently observed them, trying to find their purpose. No matter how much he observed though, he could never find out why they were here. So, when he saw one of them near the great mountain he went to confront him. By time he got there though, the man had seemingly vanished.

He tried again several times, but all of them led to the same result. The hunter was supposed to catch his prey, not let it elude him!

One day, he managed to follow one of the men to a large boulder on the mountainside. To his astonishment, the man tapped his finger on the rock, and it shifted to reveal a passageway leading underground. The hunter failed to reach it in time though, so he waited there the next day. Alas, no one came.

The thoughts of the strange men began to leave his mind until the unnatural storm appeared. He knew that they were connected to this somehow, and he was going to find out how.

He made his way to the secret rock entrance when he noticed that it was open. Without another thought, he entered.

Trudging through the darkness, the young hunter found out that the smell of sulfur was weaker here, but only because of the other, familiar smell that blocked it out. What it was though, he would find out soon.

He soon came upon a large room. But what he saw there, in the light of the candles shook him to his core.

Blood. Cloaked bodies lying around in pools of their own blood. Blood covered the walls, the floors, everywhere.

Horrified, the hunter turned to leave, but his ears picked up something odd.

Whispering. Like the ones plaguing the village, only louder, fierce…ravenous.

The candles suddenly blew out.

Then, he saw darkness.

Several days later, when a caravan made its way into the village, they saw it ransacked to the ground. Huts burnt, fields shredded, blood watering the streets. What was prominent though, was the sheer darkness that enveloped it, as though as a large shadow swallowed it whole. They left immediately, unaware that a small, black tendril creeped out from the ruins and latched onto one of the wagons…

-Obscuro-

It didn't know how it truly came to be. It didn't even know how long it had roamed this earth. Decades, centuries maybe? What it did know however, was that ever since it could remember, it had watched. Watched as kingdoms rose and fell, watched as humans fought each other over and over. Watched as the force called chakra came to be, as humans…ninjas…abused its powers for war.

Fools.

But as it watched, it would move around, scour the lands, mess with the mortals' minds. They were fun to play with, so fragile, so gullible, so terrified when they were unable to see the cause of the carnage it dealt, as they slowly went insane. Yet wherever they looked they saw it…the one thing that exists everywhere, in every world…Shadow. It thought the mortals as mere playthings, toys to be used at its leisure.

Yet what it saw tonight…intrigued it.

A demonic fox rampaging, tearing down all in its path.

Humans cry out as their light leaves their eyes.

A bright-haired human on a large toad fighting back.

The cries of an infant as the fox is absorbed into his little gut.

It had seen the creation of these beasts. Sometimes followed them around the land, seeing the destruction they caused. Yet it had never encountered a host of these beings. Heard of them, yes but seeing one…

So, it watched. Watched as the infant grew, for six years, while being put through hell in that village. Mobs, assassination attempts, jeering from the fleshlings. They would sometimes chase him, especially on his birthday. Did the bright-haired human really think he would be treated as a hero?

Fool. Humans don't change.

Even though he put up a mask of happiness, it saw through it. The anger. The pain. The loneliness. All the while impressed with the young one's tenacity. One day however, on a whim, it made a decision that would change their fates forever…

* * *

 **The language that is chanted is a little something from Angelarium combined with Hebrew.**

 **Read and review. Review. REEEEEEEEEEVVIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWW!**


	2. Chapter 1 - The House

**Chapter 1: The House**

See disclaimer on prologue.

 _' ' – Thoughts_

" " – Speech

 **" " – Mind speech**

Hell.

A very interesting word. Many people have said it, yelled and uttered it, and no doubt will keep saying it in some form. But what does it mean?

The most common forms of this word are that of a place or that of a simple curse word. The curse word is uttered when things go wrong or the situation is unpleasant in general. The reference to the mythical place – the land of the damned souls - can be said in a religious context or can be used to describe a place that is unfit for life. It can also be used to describe a state of being, one which no man should ever feel.

If you were to ask one seven-year-old Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha how was life for him, he might use the word 'hell' to describe his current life in all of its forms, if he actually knew them. But he would also say a lot of other words to describe it as well.

For as long as he could remember, he has been treated like the filth from the bottom of the barrel by entire village. At the orphanage where he grew up, he was isolated and ostracized from his peers, given the smallest amounts of food (and that was the leftovers) and was either beatened or locked out by the matrons. He would be forced to sleep in the broom cupboard where there was barely any air and was occasionally crawling with rats. And that was when he was just in that orphanage.

Some people go outside to escape their home life. Others stay inside to escape the outside world. For Naruto, there was no escape from his torture whenever he was outside or inside. When he went out, it seemed like the entire village looked at him like he was the bane of their existence and was worse than the pile of dog shit that was in the alleyway. This wasn't that far from the truth to them. When he went to the playground, all the other kids would run away or jeer at him, even thrown trash and rocks at him. If he went to a store, he would be thrown out or charged more than what it said on the sticker.

Even worse, sometimes a few drunks and even ninjas would gather up and beat him senseless. Thanks to that, along with the 'tender' care he experienced at home, it made him a tad resistant to the pain, but what was even more painful for him was that he saw masked figures, on the rooftops or on the sides of the houses, doing nothing and only pushing the sources of his pain back at the last moment.

Now Naruto may seem, to the outsider at least, as a bit dumb, but actually, he was smarter than most kids his age. Not genius level smart, no, but smart enough to notice what was going on around him. This trait was reinforced by his survival instincts, where he had to sharpen his mind and constantly be aware in order to avoid beatings. As such, he could learn thing more instinctually than his peers. For example, when the matrons didn't let him read any of the books, he snuck to the library where he would silently hear how the other orphans were being taught to read. In addition, he already learnt how to hide himself and build shelters thanks to the times where he would be locked out. As such, he knew that the masked ninjas were supposed to be protecting him, although they didn't do a very good job.

However, one thing that always bugged him was the question: ' _Why?_ '

Why were they so mean to him?

Why did they hurt him?

Why did they **hate** him?

Why did they call him…' _ **demon**_ '?

These were all questions that Naruto never seemed to get the answers to. He certainly didn't look like it, with spiky blond hair, bright blue eyes and whiskered cheeks, but for some reason that didn't matter to the villagers. It was as if it was decided by Kami or some other higher power that he would be a target for the villager's hatred, a pariah.

Naturally, every time Naruto thought that, he would shake his head and utter "Yeah, right".

As the years passed by Naruto barely managed to survive. Because of all of his encounters with the villagers, he had grown wary of strangers, particularly human ones. The only one out of the whole village that was nice to him was the old man who called himself 'Hokage' that visited him on occasion and gave him a gift, yet there was still a strong sense of paranoia instilled within the blonde.

A month ago, the matrons suddenly decided to kick Naruto out of the orphanage, as such he had to use his forcefully-acquired skills to survive out in the streets, meaning sneaking into shops and stealing food, hiding from especially mean-looking villagers and generally trying to survive.

Now this night, Naruto knew he had to stay hidden, for this night was October 10th, the Kyuubi memorial festival, a night were he would be chased by a good portion of the villagers and they would sometimes beat him and torture him, in the most inhumane ways possible….if they caught him.

So, Naruto was slowly creeping in the alleyways, avoiding the main streets and the bright lights where the people were. He actually managed to get by most of the festival unseen, which he considered a miracle. He was about to scamper to his shelter when he heard "Hey boys look, it's the demon brat! Let's get him!" It was then that Naruto knew it was time to take off, in order to shake off the chasing villagers.

' _Gah, I just need to move in between alleys and head to the dirty area of town_ **(Red Light District),** _then I'll wait until dawn to return. Yeah, great idea!_ ' thought Naruto. As he kept running, he could hear and feel the sensations of more people joining in, and it was when he saw a knife flying by him that he thought in panic ' _Oh no, ninja's_!'. Now, while Naruto could outrun a good majority of the civilian populace, it was the ninjas who always caught him, so he knew he had to lose the crowd and fast.

But, just as he had headed down an alley that he thought could lead him to safety, he stopped abruptly and looked ahead in horror.

"A dead end!? Ah!"

Indeed, for in front of him was a wall with a large metal-wire fence that blocked the rest of the alley. The wall had no indentations, so he could not climb. He looked left and right, trying to find a way out, but the alley was closed in every other direction. He pressed himself against the wall as he heard the trampling of feet and cries of the villagers:

"Where is he? Kill the demon brat!"

"When I find him, I will finally avenge my family!"

"Let us finish what the Yondaime started!"

"I think he's over there! Let's get him!"

At that last shout, Naruto could hear the cries and shout of the whole group getting closer and closer. As he pressed against the wall, he thought ' _I wanna get out! I don't want them to hurt me!_ Help!' The last part was said as a pitiful whimper.

Just as the villagers were nearing the corner and were going to beat the life out of Naruto, something unusual happened.

As Naruto kept pressing his back to the wall, he saw what looked like a black claw press against him and pushed him into the wall. He experienced the sensation of falling while his whole body was buffeted by what seemed like a strong wind. He saw black tendrils in his vision along with a white light in the distance. As he 'fell', he saw the light getting bigger and bigger, and what seemed like two seconds later, he found himself on the other side of the wall, a few meters away. Just in front of him was a hill that was part of the forest that surrounded the village.

His instincts yelling at him, he dashed up the hill, into the forest and went behind a large tree. He heard the yells of the villagers, angry that they 'couldn't teach the demon brat a lesson'. He kept hiding until he made sure that he couldn't hear them anymore. As he peeked from behind the tree, he saw that the villagers have moved out of the alley.

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto slumped against the tree and sighed in relief. "That was close", he muttered, "They sounded real angry tonight. But what was that claw? How did I end up on the other side?"

He then looked at the forest and said, "Maybe I should wait here until morning, then I can figure out what to do". In truth, Naruto was chased out into the forest before, and he liked to stay there to avoid the village, even though he knew it was dangerous. So, he decided to stick around. ' _Before my 'guardians' come for me_ ' he thought darkly.

He was still mulling over his next course of action when he saw something that made him jump in fright: a stick, seemingly floating above the ground in the light of the moon, that waved in his face before dropping down and scribbling something in the dirt. _'W-What is that? W-What is it doing?'_ Naruto thought with some measure of fear. Yet part of him was still curious as to what the stick was doing. Maybe not the smartest idea, but he was still a child, and children were curious creatures. So he slowly walked up to the stick, closer and closer, until he looked down and saw what it hat scribbled, or rather written:

"Follow".

Naruto looked at the word with some apprehension, and then he looked back up at the stick and circled around it. He couldn't find anything unusual about it, before he looked down again and saw something which made his eyes widen: two shadows sticking out of a tree's shadow, one was holding the stick's shadow like a pen, and the other was splayed open, in the shape of a claw.

"D-Did you save me?" Naruto asked. For a moment, the shadows didn't move. Then the stick-holding shadow twirled the stick's shadow (and subsequently, the stick) and wrote a new word in the dirt before the previous one. Now the message read:

"Yes. Follow".

Naruto looked back up at the floating stick and thought: ' _I think I'm crazy for doing this, but what choice do I have? I can wait here and go to the village, where I will feel pain and be sad, or I can see what this…shadow…wants to show me, and then I won't have to go back to the village for a while longer'_. He turned his head towards the village, then back to the stick, then he shrugged and said "It's not like I have anyone waiting for me back there, and you are the only one who actually helped me before I got hurt so…where to?"

The stick then twirled again and flew at a running pace deep into the forest. "Hey, wait!" yelled Naruto while running to keep up with the flying piece of wood. The stick made some turns here and there, and Naruto thought that they were starting to go in circles when he yelled "Hey, where are we going?" The stick kept flying through the air until, after a few minutes, it stopped. Naruto trudged up behind and asked "Why did we –" He paused and looked at perhaps the most amazing and unusual thing he had ever seen.

On a large clearing, surrounded by gnarly dead trees, stood a big and magnificent house. What was unusual for Naruto about the house was that it was unlike any house in the village. ' _Did I say house? More like a castle!'_ Naruto thought as he tried to process what he saw. The house, unlike the ones in the village which were usually low and blocked together with one roof, this one was rather tall and had a tower in the middle, and it looked like it was made of three separate houses glued together. The tower was shorter than the surrounding tall trees, yet it was still very tall for Naruto. To the left of the tower, there was what looked to be a smaller "house" glued to the side that was still very tall for the blond. To the right, stood another "house" which was shorter than the second one. Its roof looked like a fusion of a tower roof and a regular roof, with the tower roof in front of the regular roof. The house looked to be made of wood and stone, with the latter consisting the majority of the build. The tallest room in the house seemed to be 4-5 stories high, with windows covering all sides of the house. Most looked intact, but there were a few in the front that were smashed a bit. Ornate stone carvings decorated the house, especially the ones that framed the windows. The carvings were small loops that stopped at the sides of the windows openings. Ivy and other plant scaled the walls. The terrace had a small roof above it which was supported by weathered stone pillars. There was a small flight of stairs leading to what seemed to be the entrance of the house. But most of all, the house seemed to hold an air of uneasiness and fear, as though there was something in the house that shouldn't be disturbed. Or maybe it was the fact that the house looked like it was going to collapse. It didn't help that there was nearly a full moon out, which bathed the house in a ghoulish light. Either way, Naruto looked at the house and asked in a quiet tone "What is this place?" (1).

The stick simply hovered in its place for a few seconds before diving down and scribbling on the dirt: "Home". The stick then slowly flew towards the entrance of the house, with Naruto following its path.

Naruto soon reached the entrance door, and he turned the knob and pushed. The door creaked open, and a sudden gust of wind came out of the house. An odour of decay hit his nose, making him cringe in disgust. ' _Damn, this place is getting creepier by the second_ ' he thought, as he quietly moved through the dark corridor and into a large room. Each step he took made a small creaking sound that rang through the corridor. When he entered it, he gazed up. "Must be the living room" he muttered.

The living room was a dark and spacious area. A series of windows above the entrance line had black, grimy curtains that wouldn't let any light in. a few circular windows up on the ceiling allowed a few rays of moonlight to seep through, although they were mostly covered in mould. Dust and debris littered the floor, tarnishing what might have been an elaborate drawing. Two long couches were each side of the room, both ragged and a tad mouldy. Near each of them was a small table with drawers. A large bookcase leaned against the right wall besides an opening to another corridor. On the left side, there was another opening but no bookcase. A few worn out or faded paintings lined the walls, but as it was dark out, Naruto had trouble seeing them properly. In the middle of the room's far end, there were two flights of stairs both going upwards to a balcony that led to a second floor. In between them was a black, rotting door with a small mirror.

Naruto was lost in examining the room when the stick came up to him and tapped him on his head. He jumped backed and yelped "Gah! S-sorry! Nice h-house." The stick simply wobbled in place for a moment and floated to one of the small tables. Naruto followed it, and saw it drop on the table before a small, shadowy tentacle emerged from under it and traced another message on the dust, which was illuminated by a moonlit ray: "Bed up. We talk at dawn."

Naruto wanted to complain, to ask more questions when he started feeling a bit sluggish. He yawned and said "Sure, lead the way". The stick floated up from the table and flew over and up the flight of stairs. He followed the stick up the dark, creaking steps, turned left and into a corridor with a series of doors. The stick stopped in front of a door that looked a bit cleaner than the rest and tapped it. Naruto turned the knob and pushed, but the door didn't budge. He pushed again with more force than he should have used, force the door open with a loud creak and stumbled into the room. Said room was what might have been a master bedroom with a large, four-poster bed on the left, a closet besides the door, a writing desk with drawers and what seemed to be three bookshelves on each side and a chair to its left. In front of the door were two large windows, one of which had a curtain. Dust but much less debris was scattered across the floor. To its right was an opening that led to a dirty bathroom, where a porcelain tub with brown water rings lay.

Naruto jumped on the bed, kicked off his sandals and yawned. The bed creaked in protest and the mattress was a tad stiff, but the young jinchuuriki felt like he was on a cloud. He was about to drift off, he felt something impact his stomach. He opened an eye and saw that an apple lay there. He quickly devoured it like a wood-chipper and cast the core aside. As he slowly fell under the spell of Morpheus, he muttered to his helper, "thank you".

The stick then dropped onto the floor, and the door closed. If Naruto might have stayed awake for a little longer, he would've seen a shadow close the door. An inhuman shadow, that moved like it was alive….

 **-Obscuro-**

Hiruzen Sarutobi. The God of Shinobi. The Professor. The Third Hokage. Old fool. All of these names belonged to the same man, a man that was now sitting behind his desk at the Hokage tower, facing the dreaded menace that was paperwork. "Minato, why did you leave me with this job?" he asked no one in particular. He then stopped working for a moment, and turned his head towards the large window that overlooked the village. He saw the lights and people from the Kyuubi festival moving around, partying in memory of that fateful day seven years ago. As he saw the festival continuing, his mind began to wander to thoughts about a certain blond, whiskered boy. ' _Naruto…I hope you are alright'_ the Hokage thought with a dash of worry.

He didn't visit the boy as much as he wanted to, but the council, which has amassed power over the years, was pushing him to the limit and preventing him from interfering with certain events in the village. One of which was punishments for harming the young container, or saying "demon" near him, as that would violate the S-ranked law he has placed upon the village: To never tell Naruto about his relation to the fox until he comes of age. ' _I have a hard time preventing him from getting killed, especially with Danzo's attempts at enlisting him in ROOT_ ' he thought in sadness. What also worried him was that Naruto showed little attachment to Konoha. From what his watchers told him, he was very cautious and seemed to mutter bad words against the villagers. "Minato, I'm sorry that your son isn't treated like the hero you wanted him to be, and if you would see him right now…"

He was about to return to the paperwork when a group of ANBU, the masked black ops of the village, entered his office. "Hokage-sama, a mob was chasing after Naruto, a rather large one, but he suddenly disappeared" said a weasel-masked ANBU. The Hokage turned to the ANBU and asked in a tone of urgency "Disappeared? Where to!?" "I don't know Hokage-sama, but he appears to be somewhere within the forest, although I can't seem to pinpoint it." The ANBU responded in a neutral tone. Sarutobi sighed and said to the group: "Weasel, Cat, Dog, go the forest and find him. The rest of you, find out who was in that mob and bring them to me!" The ANBU bowed and yelled "Yes sir!" as they left. Sarutobi turned his head towards the forest and whispered "Naruto-kun, I hope you're allright…"

 **Hi guys! Here's the second chapter! It may lack in the house's description but like I said, I need a beta reader.**

– **Search 'haunted house' on google images, third option. Any idea what the stone curves are called? Can someone help me with this?**

 **Read and review!**


	3. Chapter 2 - Who Are You?

**Chapter 2 – Who Are You?**

See disclaimer on prologue.

 **Hi! I'm back! Here with another chapter of Obscuro. I want to clarify a few things: First off, this will not be a Godlike!Naruto fic. He will gain new skills, but which ones…that's a secret (hint: non-jutsu), but he won't gain them and then curbstomp** _ **EVERYONE**_ **. Also, should I do a single pairing or a harem?** **Also, I need help writing combat scenes. I suck at those** **. Also, the Uchiha massacre didn't happen yet and the entrance age for the academy is at 8 years old.**

 **I also recommend playing some dark creepy organ music to this fic, like something from Adrian von Ziegler (amazing artist BTW) or MisanthropiK.**

" " – human speech

 _' ' – thought speech_

 **" " – demon speech**

Throughout Naruto's admittedly short life of seven years, he has felt a lot of different emotions and sensations. Pain, stuffiness, exhaustion and several other unpleasant sensations. One sensation that he has rarely felt, if at all, now was softness. Coming from a boy who slept on a hard wooden or stone floor daily, this was rather startling. So when Naruto opened his eyes and awoke, he froze for a moment at the sensation of a (relatively) soft bed before the memories of last night hit him full force. "I was saved…someone really saved me…" he muttered in dawning comprehension. This was another cause for Naruto's shock: as the village pariah, he was always on the lookout for any villager that tried to harm him. There were a couple of times when a villager acted nice to Naruto and helped him out, only to lead him to a trap with other villagers and beat the life out of him…again. These instances of "help" usually lasted for no more than an hour or two. Never a full night, and never food or a bed. As Naruto finally shook himself out of his shock, he finally became fully aware to his surroundings.

It was still the room he slept in when he came into the house, but now that light was seeping through the window, it gave it a different sort of glow, a more heart-warming one. In addition, he could make out finer details of the room that he didn't notice beforehand due to the darkness and his exhaustion. The columns that supported the roof of the four-poster bed had intricate swirls carved into them. The underside of the bed's roof had a strange geometrical pattern that he could not seem to figure out.

Naruto got out of the bed and started walking towards the bathroom door. As he passed by the writing desk, he stopped and saw that there were books inside of the bookshelves, as well as a change of clothes on the desk. Now ever since he learned how read and write Naruto knew about the important rule of "knowledge is power". He became fascinated by books and the knowledge that they held, whether it helped his survival in that hellish village or not. But when he took out a random book out of the shelf and opened it, he saw that the book was written in a language that he didn't understand. It looked completely different from the kanji and lettering that he was used to – it was made out of letters that were structured horizontally, sometimes even appearing twice in a row. Frustrated, he put the book on the desk, picked up the spare clothes and walked into the bathroom.

He didn't hope to find much there, but he saw that the dirty porcelain tub was filled with water, even though there was no pipe that could bring it, as well as a dirty mirror that he missed the previous night. "Must be that…person that brought me here" Naruto shrugged as he took of his ripped clothes. Naruto then entered the tub and scrubbed the dirt off him with his hands. When he finished, he put on the fresh clothes – a black t-shirt, a pair of blue short pants and a pair of sandals.

"I'm hungry, where's the food?" Naruto grumbled as he headed out the bedroom and into the living room. As he entered the living room, he looked down on its floor from the balcony that he stood on and noticed the painting on the floor. Although it was faded, he could make out what seemed to be a large pit of sorts that was divided into 10 levels with small figures on each level. At the bottom of the pit, there was a larger figure than the rest, but it was too faded to see (1). Naruto then descended the stairs and walked towards a corridor on the right of the room's entrance side. He walked in and saw a large dining room on the right.

The room was slightly smaller than the living room, with a large table with 10 chairs surrounding it. Naruto then saw on the plate closest to him another apple with a glass of water. He sat down and ate his meal slowly, as if to savour the apple's taste. When he finished, he looked around the room and called "Hello? Are you there sir?" While Naruto didn't call a lot of people "sir" (only the Hokage), he felt like he owed it to this figure who had saved him.

For a minute nothing happened. Then, he felt something hit him on the side of his head. "Hey! What's the big idea?" Naruto yelled. He then saw a crumpled piece of paper sitting near his plate. He glared at the paper like it had committed the worst atrocity in existence, then opened it up and saw a map of the house. He saw that a certain room, behind the living room and presumably the rotting door, was circled. He then grumbled and picked himself up off the chair. "This house is a maze…" he complained as he walked towards the door. He then turned the doorknob and pushed in as the door made a loud CREEEAAAAKKK. When he entered the room, he froze in awe. "I think I really died back there, 'cause this must be heaven".

In it was a large library, filled to brim books. To the left here were shelves filled with said books, all of them in different dark colours. Some of the titles were written in his language, while the rest were written in the language that he saw back in his room. To the right lay an armchair with a small round table, and a large blackboard with some chalk and an eraser. The front of the room had a desk and chair, with a curtained window behind it, the curtain being open. Another bookshelf lay to the right and another armchair to the left. What was most astonishing was that unlike the rest of the house, this room was immaculately clean. No speck of dust, no rubble, no broken windows.

Naruto was gazing at the library room with wonder when he saw out of the corner of his eye that a piece of chalk was starting to float up from the board's shelf. The chalk then wrote on the board: "You are awake. Good. You are Naruto I presume?" Naruto raised an eyebrow and said "Yeah, I'm awake and that's my name. Thanks for the help by the way. Where are we? What is this place? How did you do that thing with the wall? What is that language in the books? What –" before Naruto could continue to ask more, he felt a flick on his forehead and shook his head and looked to the board. He saw the eraser floating up and erasing the words. The new words were: "In order: A hill in the Konoha forest. My house. The shadows. A foreign one". Naruto looked annoyed that he was interrupted but he looked down and mumbled "Sure. Thanks again. I would've died if they got me". The board now said "True. Pitiful creatures, those humans. Blaming one thing on another". Naruto nodded and said "Yeah, but it's not like I can really change their opinion eh?" "True. They are narrow-minded and selfish". Naruto simply nodded again before remembering something and exclaiming "Ah! The masked ninja! They're supposed to be my watchers! They're looking for me now! I have to – ". Another flick on the forehead. The board now said "No need. I sent a note in your name telling them that you found shelter and would like to remain there". Naruto blinked and said "Oh. Okay."

A few moments of silence then passed between the two. He then looked to board and asked in a cautious tone "Why did you save me?" The chalk simply hovered in place for several seconds before writing: "I find you interesting. And I have not seen a real live container before. It would be a shame if you died. So much potential." Naruto then looked at the board with a sceptical look and asked: "Interesting? That not creepy at all…wait, container? What do you mean?" The board now said "You don't know? Well, do you know what happened seven years ago and how it ended?" Naruto replied "Yeah, the Kyuubi attack with the Fourth Hokage killing it, why?" "That last part is a lie. The Fourth didn't kill the demon. He sealed it away into the only thing that could contain it…a new-born". Naruto gazed at the board in dawning comprehension and whispered "Me…it's me isn't it?" At that moment, he understood.

Why he was alone.

Why he was beaten.

Why he was treated like trash.

Why they called him… _ **demon.**_

Naruto felt like a spear was lodged in his gut. He was about to fall down on his knees when another flick shook out of his stupor. The board read: "Yes. They deem you, the container, to be responsible for the damage and death the beast dealt those seven years ago, but you are the container, not the demon. Your leader, the Hokage, made it a law punishable by death to tell you about this". Naruto read the words on the board and then nodded. "Yeah… I'm not the demon". Naruto then fidgeted in his spot in silence. He looked back up at the board and said "Hey, you didn't really tell me three things: How did you push me through that wall? What is that language? Who…what are you?" he said the last part nervously. The eraser removed the words from the board, and the chalk began to write in slower, more deliberate movements. After what seemed like half an hour, the board read: "I opened up the shadows that the wall made and pushed you through them to the shadow on the other side".

Naruto read the board and whispered "Shadow…?" It made sense. He saw the shadows during his passage, he felt them. He was about to asked more when heard the scribbling of the chalk on the board, which now read "The shadows are everywhere. To most mortals they are a phenomenon they can accept or exploit. But to me, they are a gateway. A gateway that leads to anyplace I wish. They are my place of birth. They are my source of power. They are my connection to this world. They are my grave and my very being". Naruto gazed at the board with a growing headache ' _So that's how he got me here. But then how-'_. He then saw a new sentence on the board.

"The shadows are my connection to this world. They allow me to interact with it. As long as it has a shadow, I can use it as you would use it. This is how I got you clothes and food. I believe your village has ninjas that can do this to a smaller extent". As Naruto read the last sentence, he remembered that one time when he was running from a mob, when a black shadow that was coming from one of the ninjas stopped him and allowed the mob to reach him. As he winced at that memory, he understood what his host meant.

The chalk and eraser got to work again and wrote a new message "I see you have an inquisitive mind. Good. To answer your second question, the language you saw is an ancient language that was practiced by humans not of this land called Latin. It is rather different than the native language here, although it does share similarities." Naruto looked at the board then turned his head towards the bookshelves "L-Latin? Weird name. Too bad I can't read it. I really wanna see what's in those books…hehehehehe…" at this point he started drooling at the possibility of what he could do with another language. He could write and no one will understand him, he could make codes, he could finally get his hands on all of that…delicious, juicy knowledge...

Just as he was going to sink into his imagination, Naruto felt another forehead flick. "GAH! Stop doing that!" he yelled at the board. The new message said: "It gets your attention. Focus" then a new message was scribbled under "But yes, you are correct. Knowledge over another language, especially in this setting is valuable. It will be one of the things I shall be teaching you". Naruto just scoffed and said "Yeah, of course it's valuable and - wait, did you say 'teaching me'? Are you really gonna teach me!? Why!?" this time the chalk seemed to hover in confusion if it could, before a new message said:

"Like I said, I find you interesting. Do you wish to become strong? To no longer be hurt by those villagers? To even take your revenge if you wish?"

As Naruto gazed upon those words, he remembered every beating that he took. Every time he was shunned by the other kids, every time he was blamed for crimes that he didn't commit. All because the people of that hellish village couldn't tell the difference between a sword and a sheath. "Yeah" he said with conviction "I want to become strong. To never let anyone hurt me again. But revenge? I don't know. We'll see." After he said those words, the young Uzumaki looked to the board and saw a new message "Very well. I shall train and teach you. But I will not teach you the intricacies of the ninja arts; instead I will teach you my arts. The power of the shadows, and more…much, much more…"

After Naruto read that last line, he felt a massive presence around him. As he turned his head in fright, he saw something that made his heart stop; strands of shadow, creeping in from all over the room, from the bookcases, beneath the armchairs and from the curtains all creeping towards a spot besides the board. A swirling vortex of inky blackness came sprouting out of the gathered shadows. Ten seconds later, a gust of wind and shadow forced Naruto to blink and when he opened his eyes; his jaw fell open at what he saw.

In the gathering spot there stood a massive, shadowy shape. It was all black and stood higher than the blackboard, which already twice Naruto's size. It had two arms with razor-sharp claws that seemed to shrink and grow back every second, even though they were still very long. Its "legs" were simply a drape of shadows on the floor. Behind it were two large black wings. Its head though caught the most attention. On it were six horns; two on the left, two on the top and two on the right. Its eyes were a glowing blood red that seemed to devour his very soul. It had a snout with slit nostrils that was filled with what seemed like black razor sharp fangs. (2)

Naruto kept gazing at the figure with a mixture of horror and awe. ' _This is what he looks like? No wonder the house felt scary!_ ' he thought while starting to sweat. The figure then raised a hand and picked the piece of chalk with such delicacy that seemed impossible for someone who possessed such claws and wrote a new message: "To answer your third question, I am the Shadow at Night. I am the Messenger of Death. I am He who is Never There. I am one of the last of my kin. I hail from the eternal Void. I am a Shadow Demon, and you can call me **Obscuro**."

Naruto just looked at the board and thought: ' _What did I get myself into?_ '

 **-Obscuro-**

The shadow demon stood over the boy as he tried comprehending the situation before it. It was always amusing, mortals seeing its form for the first time. It left them utterly speechless or made them scream and beg for mercy. Luckily, it had left the boy the former so it wouldn't have to deal with such an annoyance. As it looked at the gaping boy, its thoughts went back to last night. What it told the boy about the note to his 'watchers' was a bit of a lie. Rather, it told them itself…

 **Flashback**

 _It had made sure that the boy was asleep before creeping out of the house. If hit wanted to train the boy, it had to make sure that it would get as few interruptions as possible. That meant making the boys watchers won't keep looking for him. It kept searching the forest, trying to feel the ninja's shadows. After a minute of searching, it found them near a small stream. It crept over to them unseen by their eyes. It then materialized behind a large tree and focused._

 _Over the years of its existence and experience in messing with mortals, it has learnt a great many skills. One of which was changing its shape and casting illusions to make the mortals see what it wants them to see. However, a power which it had personally crafted would need to be used here._

 _By using the blood of a mortal, it could assume the mortal's form down to the last detail. Voice, mannerisms, memories, facial and body features, even one of those "chakra networks" that these ninjas had. For this case, it even took a sample of the boy's_ _ **other**_ _chakra to fool the mortals even further. The_ _ **other**_ _chakra would assimilate just fine, for they were both demons, and it could adapt. The drawback though was that it lasted only an hour or two before it dissolved back to its original form._

 _After a few seconds, it saw its…or rather_ _ **his**_ _…hands and body have fully materialized. Peeking behind the tree, he called out to the two ninjas in a meek voice "H-Hello? Weasel-san? Cat-san? Is that you?". The two ninjas turned their heads towards him and seemed to sigh in relief before the cat-masked ninja (a female it seemed) walked over to him and said in a worried tone "Naruto-kun, we were so worried. They didn't harm you right? What were you doing out in the streets?". Obscuro-Naruto looked down at his feet and said in a hurt tone "The people at the orphanage threw me out. I've been on the streets for a while now". Cat seemed to growl in anger before she knelt down and patted his head "we're sorry that we didn't notice it sooner. Come on, we'll tell the Hokage you need a new place to live"._

 _Obscuro-Naruto took a step back and said "But, I like it here. I found a place that I could sleep in. It may be out here, but it's better than back there" he said the last part with some anger in his voice. The two ninjas looked at each other before looking back at him. "Can you show us this place. Or at least just what it looks like?"._

 _At this Obscuro-Naruto started to ponder. Should he show them the house or some other nearby shelter? While the latter would prevent anyone spying on him, it would also require him to be at least partially present there for a good portion of the day, and even he couldn't be at two places at once. On the other hand, if he showed them the house, it would remove some suspicion from him and the boy, and he could create protection – both illusions and defenses – that would prevent the training from being watched or disturbed. Letting them see the house seemed like a good option for now._

 _He then looked up at Cat and said "it's a bit tricky to find, but follow me". He turned around and started running; knowing that his two followers could catch up with him easily, he subtly used the shadows to travel a bit faster, much like how one would surf on water. After a few minutes, they arrived at the house._

 _While he couldn't see it on their faces, Obscuro-Naruto felt the slight twinge of fear that passed through their bodies. He inwardly smirked. Good, if this is the effect that the area had on such highly-trained ninjas, then any lesser human would either freeze/tremble on the spot, retreat or faint. He would have to place those defenses soon though. Fear factor alone can only do so much._

 _He turned to them and gave a smile. "It's big, there's a bed and I can get food from the forest, see?" he pulled out an apple using the shadows, again, unseen. The ninjas looked at each other, then at the house, then at him. Weasel said with a hint of reluctance "very well Naruto-kun, we will inform the Hokage about this". With those words, they vanished on the spot via_ _ **Body Flicker.**_

 _He then turned back towards the house and felt himself slipping back to his original form. If he…_ _ **it**_ _could describe how it felt, it would've felt like melting down, being blown away and then freezing. But it had accomplished what it had set out to do. Now, to see what the future held for both it and the boy…_

 **Flashback end**

Obscuro looked down at the boy for several moments before flicking his forehead again (to the boy's squawk of protest) and writing a new message on the board. That little fact was annoying. As a shadow demon, it couldn't speak in a way that was coherent to humans (without sending them into madness), so it had to make do with writing and other means of communication. It wrote "Now that I have your attention, take notice. I will be gone for an hour to set up some things. Until then, stay here. There are some books in your language as you have noticed and you are welcome to read them. Just don't leave the room until I get back. Understood?" The boy looked at the board, rustled his head and said: "Y-yeah, alright. No leaving the room, got it". With those words, the boy hurriedly turned away and went to a bookshelf. Obscuro then dropped the chalk and melted away into the shadows. It had some spying to do.

 **-Obscuro-**

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a sigh as he heard the report from the two ANBU's before him. He knew that the villagers treated Naruto badly, but he had hoped they wouldn't go to such lengths as to permanently scare him away. It just that the boy looked so much like Minato, and he had hoped that Naruto would inherit his father's determination and persevere in the face of such hatred. But it was just that. A hope.

He looked at the ANBU and said "it is a shame that this whole thing happened, but I believe what he said is right. He will be safer there than in this village. But tell me, you said that you felt uneasy when you came to his newfound…house. What did you mean by that?" Weasel replied in a careful tone "well Hokage-sama, when I entered the area, it just felt…wrong in some sense. Like there was this aura of fear around the house, like I was being watched by some unseen predator. More than that, when I looked at Naruto with my **Sharingan,** there was something…off about him as well".

This caused the Hokage to raise an eyebrow. "Off? What do you mean off? Was it the Kyuubi?". Weasel shook his head "not really Hokage-sama, it was as though his chakra system was…clouded for a lack of a better term. Not in the genjutsu fashion, but it felt like there was something on top of his chakra system or surrounding it. Through my eyes it seemed like there was some sort of…black smoke surrounding his chakra system. That same smoke was surrounding the area of the house, so it could be just a result of him entering it".

The Hokage nodded at this information. He took a deep breath and said in a commanding tone: "When Dog gets back, you three will go check on him routinely every week. I can't have any more incidents like this". The ANBU bowed and replied "Yes, sir!" and disappeared. He looked down at the village from his office and thought to himself ' _It seems I have some work to do, and it's not the damn paperwork…"_

 **-Obscuro-**

 **What do you think? Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

 **(1) Botticelli's "Map of Hell"**

 **(2) See cover image**


	4. Chapter 3 - Lesson 1: The Ritual

**Chapter 3 – Lesson 1: The Ritual**

See disclaimer on prologue

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! BETA NEEDED!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

After it had left Naruto in the library, Obscuro melted into the shadows and started to head for the village. In order for it to successfully teach the boy, it would need to acquire more resources. That meant acquiring a new book or two, some ingredients, clothes, food for a time of need, weapons and other assorted items. But what it was really searching for was information. What kind of information? The lists of ninja patrols to the house (for security reasons), any dirty secret lurking about (blackmail and the need to know) and what was the village's reaction to Naruto not appearing, more specifically, the higher echelon's reaction (again, security reasons).

Obscuro reached the village in a matter of seconds and began first liberating some stores of their merchandise. First off was the food store. Using its powers, it began plucking various foodstuffs and other ingredients that it would need for the boy's lessons from the back of the shelves in order not to arouse suspicion. After it had taken its full, Obscuro moved to a hardware store and a writing store to acquire more materials via the same method. For a human, this would've taken more than an hour, but due Obscuro's shadow powers the acquisition of the items took shorter time. Best of all, it didn't even need to pay or stand in line for the items. Foolish human concepts.

After it had acquired two sets of clothes and weapons, primarily kunais and other small arms, Obscuro decided to start digging for information. It then slithered off to three places: the Hokage's office, the supposed council chamber and the masked ninja's headquarters. Being around the village for a good number of years meant that it knew where practically every single important location and hideout was. When it arrived at said places, Obscuro retreated to a hidden corner and got to work.

While it couldn't actually be in multiple places at once, Obscuro could use the shadows of desired locations to stretch his consciousness and interact with them like it would if it was actually there. So, it used said power to extend its senses and influence over to the three locations. Since it perceived the world in a different manner than humans, it had no trouble interacting with those three places at once.

Obscuro stole the schedule for the masked ninjas' (ANBU they were called it seems) patrols, and it saw what times a group would come to watch over the area of the house, around 1 to 3 PM. It would have to work around that. It didn't notice anything of importance in the Hokage's office, as it was empty. The council chamber though, was a little more interesting.

There was a meeting in session, and it seemed as though Naruto was about to be mentioned. While right now the humans were discussing trivial matters, Obscuro concluded that based on the villagers' hatred for the boy – regarding him as unimportant or a bane to all existence - and the Hokage's sense of protectiveness towards him, mentioning the boy would be the last thing that would occur on this meeting. So, it listened in and waited.

There was a general nod and murmur of agreement over some matter – again, unimportant – and the Hokage made to dismiss the meeting before a bandaged human with a cane spoke up. "Hiruzen, is it true that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki is missing?" a hush fell over the chambers before a councilman spoke up "If he is, what of it? If the brat is gone, it can go die in a –" a glare from the Hokage shut him up. "That was uncalled for. As for your question Danzo, no, Naruto isn't missing. I know exactly where he is, and he will remain there. NO, I will not turn him over to you and ROOT. End. Of. Story." This was accompanied by a pulse of killing intent that made the other councilmembers shiver. Unseen to anyone but Obscuro, Danzo frowned and said "Fine, but where is he exactly?" The Hokage paused to think before replying "he is in a house in the village area". Before another councilman made a move to speak the Hokage butted in "it is isolated and away from the residential areas. He won't 'bother' you if that's what you're thinking". A narrowing of Danzo's uninjured eye told Obscuro that he still wasn't satisfied, but it lasted for only a millisecond. The Hokage turned to the councilmembers and said "no more. This meeting is adjourned". With those words the members stood, bowed, and started to leave.

With this, Obscuro withdrew its consciousness back to the dark alley. While to a normal human this meeting wouldn't have told much, it did tell one thing to Obscuro; this Danzo was going to try and find out where the house was, and he would probably succeed. Well, it looks like it would have to prepare some additional security.

Obscuro started to slither towards the house when he took notice of a building that it had passed by; the Ninja Academy. A place where young humans train to become ninjas. At the sight of this building, Obscuro paused and took some time to ask himself: should Naruto enter the academy? It was already going to teach him and judging from the rest of the village, the instructors might sabotage him or just hinder him. On the other hand, the Hokage might push for Naruto to enter when he is of age, and having him enter thre will lessen chances of intervention on the Hokage's behalf. No matter. They still had a year.

Obscuro continued his path towards the house, already having the first lesson prepared…

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto was sitting in one of the armchairs, reading a book on espionage tactics when he heard a gust of wind. Correctly assuming that this was his new teacher's mark, he looked up from the book and saw a variety of items lying on the desk in the front of the room, such as several pencils and pens, along with a ruler, a drawing compass and some paper. He then saw the shadow-demon's form entering through the window and picking up the chalk to write on the blackboard. "You have listened. Good. I trust you enjoyed the books?" Naruto looked down back at the book and smiled "Yeah, it was interesting. I'm in heaven here!" he exclaimed with an excited tone. A new message read "Good. I made sure to preserve all of the knowledge here and guard it, as you can see by the state of this room".

Naruto did notice before that this room was far cleaner than the rest of the house and nodded. "So, what are you going to teach me? Is it that shadow-portal-thing? Crazy awesome jutsus? How about –" he started asking with a hint of his childish attitude surfacing. He then felt another forehead flick and shot the floating chalk a glare. The chalk merely hovered in the air before writing "In case you may have forgotten, I said I would teach you **my** arts. Not the ninja arts" Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked "Why?" Obscuro replied "Should you encounter any enemies; the stronger ones will know how to deal with ninjas or know how to counter/predict their jutsus. By teaching you my arts, you will have a large advantage over any foes you might face". Naruto simply nodded in understanding.

Obscuro then wrote something which surprised the blonde "But know this; no matter what you may learn from me, you will never be able to truly use it like I do just as I will never be able to use it like you do. Why? I am a demon, and you are a human. Jinchuuriki you may be, you are still human. We are as different as night is from day". Naruto looked at it with a look of protest, but then he replied with a sigh "You do have a point. So, what will you teach me?" Obscuro simply wrote "First you eat. Then come back here". Naruto made a move to object, but a growling from his stomach interrupted that thought. Shooting a brief glare at his stomach, he got up from the chair and headed towards the dining room. There he found a bowl of hot pork stew with a plate of vegetables sitting on the table. Where it came from, he had suspicions.

After eating the (admittedly) delicious stew and vegetables, Naruto got up and walked to library. Upon arriving there, he saw several books floating around with several sheets of paper being taped to the board by shadowy tendrils. The desk-chair was now sitting in front of the board along with the small round desk that was near the armchair. The round desk had some blank pages and a pencil. The whole scene resembled a one-student classroom.

The chalk then rose and wrote "The Ritual". Underneath it wrote the question "what do you know about rituals, if anything?" Naruto scratched his head and replied with an uncertain tone "umm…in the fairy tales and stories, rituals were what the witch or bad guy used to make potions or perform curses. But I don't think that's the case here right?" The question was erased and the board now said "that is correct. A ritual is an ancient system which is used to perform feats not unlike jutsus. Unfortunately, due to the bad reputation it has gotten and the time required in making rituals made them fall out of use and left them to be forgotten. It does exist now, in the form of fuinjutsu **(sealing techniques)**. The difference is that fuinjutsu techniques use chakra as a power source/trigger while rituals do not". The last sentence made Naruto ask "No chakra? Then what do they use?" The reply was "Very simple. **Life-force."**

That statement caused Naruto to tilt his head in confusion. "Life-force? What does that mean?" The response to that was "every living creature and plant possesses life-force. It is the energy which gives the spark of life to all beings, and acts as a bridge between the mortal world and the worlds beyond" Naruto still gave a confused look. The chalk wrote "Let us compare it to chakra shall we? Chakra is formed from the fusion of physical energy – the energy which the body exudes – and spiritual energy – the energy which the mind/consciousness exudes. When moulded together, they allow the person to use jutsus. In comparison, the life-force when used in a ritual is derived from your body's vitality and life energy. While physical, mental and chakra training will increase the life-force within a person, it is a separate energy from the rest. On top of that, the main difference between the two is that you are not just using your own life-force in a ritual; you are using the energy of the **aether** as a conduit for the ritual and on occasion, the life force of other creatures or plants. "

" **Aether** is the element which is present within the spiritual core of the world and the void between realms. Whenever life is present on a world, the collective life-force of the living beings and plants there seeps into the earth as they go through the cycle of life and death. As a result, the world forms a spiritual core which holds more life-force the longer time passes on said world. As life-force accumulates, aether from the dimensional void seeps in and transforms that life-force into more aether, allowing spiritual access to other planes."

"In order to get your life-force flowing in the correct fashion, an **incantation** will be needed. The incantation has to be in a language that you know well; the more ancient, the better. This is not necessary for every ritual though."

"At times, your own life-force won't be enough to fulfil the ritual. When a creature dies, some of its life force is left on the remains such as bones, blood or organs; the fresher the remains, the stronger the life-force. These are called **stimuli.** This is the reason why rituals have gotten a bad reputation, as living sacrifices are the best source of external life-force. Blood even more so, since it keeps the heart – and by extension the life force going; as such, it is an important catalyst for most rituals. **Each life-force is different** , like there are different tastes to each food."

"What bridges all of these together though, is the **ritual circle.** The circle is like a control pad; you can control the amount of life-force and aether needed to perform the ritual and what exactly will the ritual do. By inscribing various symbols and shapes in the circle, you can decide exactly how the life-force will flow and by extension, what will the ritual do. When all of the symbols, shapes and components of the circle are ready, by infusing your life-force into the circle, you 'pull' aether from the world's spiritual core into the circle and when the aether and life-force meet; they will trigger a reaction and if the circle was prepared correctly – the ritual will be performed. Here is a diagram to explain:"

{Aether = Circle = Life-force + stimuli + incantation} = Ritual

All this time Naruto was writing down notes on everything Obscuro was telling him. He was feeling happier than he ever was in his life; someone was not only treating him like a normal person, but was also teaching him about subjects that most people didn't know about. He felt like he was given the key to his own private playroom; and only he could enter!

He looked up to see what else Obscuro had written when a pressure settled over the room. Shadows started to shake even though nothing else did, and Obscuro's shadowy form crept up along the blackboard. It turned his glowing red eyes to the blond (even though it was like a shadow now – shadows have no eyes) and wrote "Remember this well: if a ritual is not prepared correctly, the results can be catastrophic. Not only will the ritual fail, but if will cause a backlash that can be anything from nothing happening to an explosion to draining your life-force to zero – meaning **you die.** If you think that a ritual cost can circumvented then remember the core of all rituals: **No matter what happens, a price MUST be paid. Understand?** " At this point the pressure intensified as though trying to emphasize the seriousness of that statement. Naruto gulped and let out a loud "YES!"

The pressure suddenly was gone as though it was never there.

Obscuro then retreated into the shadows and wrote "Excellent. I had a feeling you would understand." Naruto gave the board a deadpan glare and thought ' _if he could grin, I think that is what he would be doing now.'_ The board now said "Any questions?" Naruto looked down and searched his notes until one topic came up. He asked the shadow-demon "When you spoke about the incantation, how ancient does the language have to be?"

At this Obscuro levitated a small notebook towards him and replied "Ancient enough for me to respect it. Your language fills the requirements, but I prefer that use Latin. This notebook will help us in our Latin lessons. It is even more ancient than your language and as such possesses more power." Naruto flipped open the notebook and saw scribbles of kanji and letters written beside what he assumed Latin words and phrases. Before he could look at it better though, he heard the chalk scribbling. The message said "While I will not teach you about them in-depth, ninjutsu will certainly help you. If you wish to know more, I have some scrolls here from which you can learn about chakra."

At the mention of ninjutsu, Naruto asked a nagging question "If you say that rituals are slower than jutsu, then how will that help me in combat? Ninjas are really fast" Obscuro wrote in reply "That is a good question and there is a solution, but that will come later. You have to learn the hard way before the easy way." Naruto pouted at that statement but said nothing. The shadow-demon then wrote "In addition to this, I will give you training in armed combat and taijutsu. You still need to have proficiency in those subjects. I will acquire more scrolls for this purpose. To summarize, I have come up with a schedule: We will have lessons on rituals two days a week, combat lessons two days a week, language lessons two days a week, and a day off at the end."

Naruto looked over the schedule and replied "This seems fine. So, now what?" Obscuro wrote "Now, time for a little lesson on the ritual circle."

On the board, a perfect circle appeared. "For practice, you will have to learn to draw a perfect circle by yourself with no deviations. Don't say anything; this is harder than it looks. For now, use this." A drawing compass levitated over to Naruto. He turned it around in his hand and nodded.

The shadow-demon wrote on the board "To begin, there are three parts to a circle: **The ring** , **the shape matrix** , and **the** **symbol core.** "

"The **ring** is a written from of the incantation needed to activate the rituals. It is written around the circle's outline. At times, it can also act as a form of flow control for the aether. This is the only part of the circle which doesn't appear every time."

"The **shape matrix** is the most important part of the circle. It is the assortment of lines and shapes which are drawn inside the circle and help dictate the direction the aether and life-force will flow in order to complete the ritual."

"The **symbol** **core** is the command input for the circle. While the shape matrix will dictate how the aether and life-force will flow, what you put in the symbol core will decide the action wish to perform. It is composed of at least 3 small **core circles** , and based the number of these circles they have to be arranged in the appropriate geometric shape; meaning 3 circles will be arranged as a triangle, 4 as a square and so forth. The more complex the command, the more core circles will be needed. Let me take a very basic ritual as an example: The Ritual of Clairvoyance."

Inside the circle, an upside-down pentagram appeared with three circles drawn over three intersection points. "Now pay attention and write this down. The core circles have to be drawn over the lines of the shape matrix no matter what. The more line intersections they are drawn on the better. In this case, all of the core circles are drawn on intersection points; as such the ritual will be more powerful. You can start from any core circle, but then you must write the commands clockwise like so:"

In the top circle, an open eye was drawn with "sight" written above. In the bottom-right circle, the kanji for human was drawn **(** **人** **)** with "target" written next to it. In the bottom-left circle, a smaller circle with a dot in the center was drawn with "mind" written next to it. "This circle should be self-explanatory. Care to guess how it works?" Obscuro wrote.

Naruto looked at the circle, tilted his head and answered with a hesitant tone "umm…I don't know what the star means, but I'm guessing that the ritual first allows you to see, then you chose a target or person, then you have to think about the target...?" Obscuro wrote back "Correct. To inform you, the star here is called a pentagram and it represents the soul. It is used in rituals which affect a person specifically. In addition, you must have seen the person once in order for the ritual to work. Pictures and sketches don't count."

Naruto blinked and said in a dazed tone "O-Oh, Ok." He was still a bit confused even though he was trying to write everything down. He then saw another notebook floating towards him with a snake eating its own tail drawn on the cover. He looked up to the board and saw the message: "This notebook contains all of the runes you will use for rituals. Some of their meanings are in Latin, so it means you will have to work hard in order to decode them. Also I know several other runes which don't appear in that book. Again, work hard and I might teach you them."

Naruto looked at the book with a light of relief in his eyes and said in a tired tone "Thanks." He then took a look out the window and saw the sun setting down. He turned to the board only to see the chalk gone and a final message written: "Go and eat, then do whatever you want for a while then go to sleep. You must be fully aware if you wish to realize the full potential of a ritual."

Smiling, Naruto went to the dining room where he found some rice balls sitting on a plate. After eating them, he went back to library and started reading from the two notebooks. As he read them he thought ' _This looks like a lot of hard work. But I don't want anyone to make me feel fear ever again. If it means learning all of this then fine. It's a good thing I like to read…_ '

 **Hi! I'm back with another chapter! Here we learn about what Naruto will be using in the future. To clarify, all of the symbols and shapes here have been researched by me and their definitions are real. If there are any questions, leave a comment.**

 **Also, SINGLE PAIRING or HAREM?**

 **I STILL NEED HELP WRITING COMBAT SCENES.**

 **Sovereign2808 - Obscuro is actually a fusion of a take on the general 'unseen horror movie ghost' and tales about shadow people. But he is my my own OC.**


	5. Chapter 4 - Scouting and Questions

Chapter 4 – Scouting and Questions

See disclaimers on prologue.

Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! BETA NEEDED!

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – human thought

' ' – demon thought

" " – demon speech

A month passed, and Naruto was progressing under Obscuro's tutelage. Under its guidance, the young Uzumaki was becoming more and more proficient in several different aspects of the shadow-demon's teachings. In rituals, he had managed to memorize most of the symbols and shape-matrixes inside the notebook that he was given. He had even managed to draw some basic rituals based on words alone. Yet, he hadn't done an actual ritual yet. For all of the knowledge that he acquired, Naruto was denied the chance to perform what he was learning. This was the subject that Naruto and Obscuro were discussing one evening.

Naruto was reciting the meaning of each shape-matrix when the thought occurred to him. He looked at the board while still keeping a hand on his notes and asked "Hey, why haven't we done any rituals yet?" Obscuro (still in invisible-chalk form) simply wrote back "You aren't ready. Recite the meaning of a nonagram-matrix." Naruto let out a huff and started to recite "Nonagram matrixes are used mainly for illusions and barriers, and can cover large areas with ease. But what do you mean I'm not ready? I've been practicing for weeks and I know all of the symbols. Why can't I – ouch!" he yelled as he felt a forehead flick. He shook his head and saw the new message "Breathe. Focus like I trained you."

Naruto closed his eyes and began taking deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. After several repetitions, he opened his eyes and asked again in a calmer tone "Why can't I perform a ritual yet?" Obscuro wrote back "Think. I have taught you to use your brain better. What have I not taught you yet?" The blonde scratched his chin in contemplation for a moment when his eyes widened in realization "Life-force. I don't know how to use life-force yet."

The board now said "Correct. You have not learnt how to use your life-force. This is merely a process that even ninjas take. First theoretical, then practical. If I just told you to perform a ritual now, it wouldn't work." Naruto looked away with a slight blush on his cheeks and mumbled "Yeah. Sorry." Obscuro simply wrote "Irrelevant. Now, how is your progression with Latin?"

At this Naruto perked up and replied enthusiastically "It's going great! It's a bit different than this language, but it's really fun! It's a bit like hiragana in the fact that each letter makes a sound, and combining letters- therefore sounds – will make a word. Kanji is more like a pictogram language than this." In reply, Obscuro wrote back "Astute observation. Translate this: The river waters the forest and the forest covers the mountain." Naruto rubbed his forehead for a moment before replying "De fulminae aquae in silva et silva operire montem." (1)

Obscuro levitated the eraser and tapped it against the board thrice. It then wrote "Correct, but you must say it clearly without accent. Now, let's move to the living room. Time for weapons training." Naruto proceeded to groan. While he was initially excited at the prospect, he soon discovered that Obscuro was a slave driver when it came to weapons. Naruto got up from the chair and grabbed a pair of wooden training daggers on his way out. The daggers' blade length was a bit longer than an outstretched hand. At the hilt of each dagger a thin but strong cord was attached. When Naruto first saw the weapons, he asked "Why daggers?" Obscuro wrote back "They are light, easy to wield and they will suit my teachings. I will give you real ones when you are ready." Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow at that last statement, but he didn't question the shadow demon.

Obscuro had an unusual training method for Naruto. He would use the shadows in the living room to create a shadow dummy that he would control. The dummy was armed with different weapons on each spar, but most of the time it was armed with a copy of Naruto's daggers in order to teach him. This was to ensure that the Uzumaki was prepared to fight against most, if not any, weapon that would be thrown at him. (2)

After an exhausting fight, Naruto sprawled himself on the couch. For a demon, Obscuro knew how to fight like a human pretty damn well. The shadow-demon was very fast and ruthless in its fighting style and barely gave Naruto any chance to breathe. Obscuro constantly was on the offensive while performing feints and surprise attacks at any given chance. Obscuro's reasoning for this was: "If you feel how the attack hurts, you will know how to perform it." (Un)fortunately for Naruto, that tactic seemed to work.

Naruto was panting on the couch when he felt another piece of paper hit him. He opened it up and it read: "Take a break for an hour. Take the notebook. After that, we're going out." Naruto simply grunted in exhaustion and, with some difficulty, went up to his room.

He got to his room and sprawled himself on the bed, looking at its cover. After a few seconds, he started flipping through the notebook. As he flipped through it, thoughts started to creep in his head. One of them was 'Can I trust Obscuro?'

Due to his rather harsh years growing up, Naruto grew up with a strong sense of paranoia and alertness. He would use those senses to avoid a lot of scuffles with the villagers and to steal food. He had several occasions where people tried to act nice to him just to try and kill him, and he even fell for it the first time, but this paranoia didn't seem to act up whenever Obscuro was around. While this normally meant that Naruto could trust the shadow-demon, he still couldn't get the lingering feeling out of his head.

'Why would he do this much for me? He said he found me interesting but that can't be the only reason. Not that I'm complaining, but something still seems off' Naruto thought. He then looked out his window and saw what seemed to be floating stones burying themselves in the ground around the house. Behind one stone he recognized Obscuro's tell-tale shadow. It took a few seconds, but Naruto realized what Obscuro was doing, at least partially. "A ritual…" he muttered "But what?"

-Obscuro-

Just like Naruto predicted, Obscuro was performing a ritual. It had planned on doing this for some time now but it either was teaching Naruto or doing surveillance around the village. The reason it chose to do it now was because something caught its attention a week ago.

When it was out watching the forest, it noticed two groups of ninja near the border of the house. One of them were those ANBU ninja that he had seen tailing the boy. The ones named Weasel and Cat were there too. Obscuro knew that they were here on the orders of the Hokage. The other group however was strange. They looked like ANBU but their masks were blank and a small kanji was written on their lower cheeks. The kanji for 'Root'.

This made Obscuro suspicious, as the 'Root' ninja avoided the ANBU group and when they withdrew, the 'Root' group headed in a different direction than the ANBU. It followed them to their base, which was apparently underground, and saw them kneeling before the bandaged old human it had seen at the council meeting a month ago.

The old human looked upon the ninjas and commanded ''Root, report.'' One of them looked up at the old human and replied in an emotionless tone "Yes, Danzo-sama. We have tracked the ANBU to the jinchuuriki's hiding spot. The hiding spot seems to be a large house of sorts, abandoned by the looks of it." The old hum – Danzo nodded and asked "What else?" The ninja replied "It seems that past a certain point, it seemed as though someone was watching us, and it wasn't the ANBU. It was like eyes were looking at us in every direction." Danzo hummed in response. After a minute of thinking, he looked back down at the Root ninja and said "Keep the surveillance but keep your distance as well. When the time is right, we strike."

With those words, Obscuro knew that it had to prepare a defence on the house. The essence that it left around the house grounds won't be enough. It had to up its game.

So the shadow-demon started the ritual right after. It took a little while, but it managed to carve a complicated ritual circle underneath the house. Deep enough for it took to take effect and deep enough so that the house won't collapse in on itself. What the ritual does is it takes a bit of the caster's life force and uses it as a shield that prevents anyone but the caster or anyone that the caster permits (via blood sample) to enter. The second function of the ritual was that by leaving the caster's essence in the circle, it will act as a retaliation system that will harm and even kill anyone who tries to force their way in by using the caster's essence as a layout. In this case, should any unfortunate soul try to attack the house, an imitation of Obscuro's shadow tendrils will lash out and either deflect or kill the attacker. The third and final part of the matrix was the reason why it was so dangerous: every time blood is shed on the grounds of the house, it will be absorbed into the ritual circle and strengthen it. Like a flytrap. The stones that Naruto saw were anchor points for the shape matrix; burying them would enhance the protection and protect the circle itself from destabilizing. (3)

One thing that should be noted is that if Naruto was to perform this ritual, he would need stimuli to properly activate it. This is another difference between Obscuro and Naruto's ritual casting. As a demon, Obscuro can simply filter parts of its life-force onto the shape matrix as a replacement for the stimuli, as well as carving out circles in much less time.

An hour passed since Obscuro started, and it needed one final part to the ritual: Naruto's blood. As mentioned before, it was necessary if he was to enter the house.

It slithered quickly up to Naruto's room where the demon saw the boy looking out his window in concentration and writing in his notebook. Obscuro inwardly smirked. 'Good. It would do well for him to learn outside of lesson hours.' The demon took a pebble and threw it at Naruto's back. Naruto yelped and abruptly turned around with an irritated glare "Can 't you just tap me on the shoulder or say something?" Obscuro simply withdrew a small board with chalk from its shadowy form and wrote down: "I cannot speak and this gets your attention better."

At this comment Naruto grumbled and raised an eyebrow. He then sighed and asked "Follow?" Obscuro wrote back "Yes."

Naruto and Obscuro left the house. As they were about to head for the forest, Obscuro scratched Naruto's arm. The jinchuuriki looked down to see that a small amount of blood was seeping from a cut in his arm and forming into a ball. The ball then floated to one of the buried stone markers and floated down and vanished into to the earth. About 3 seconds after that, a bright red circle glowed around the house before vanishing. Naruto looked in shock before stammering "W-what happened?" The shadow demon simply picked up a stick and wrote down on the earth "Protection. Let's go." Naruto blinked and replied in a meek voice "S-sure."

The pair then walked (or in Obscuro's case, slithered) towards the village. As they started to approach the back alleys, the shadow-demon pushed a note and a map into Naruto's hand. The boy opened the note and read out-loud: "We are going to get some ingredients. After that, there is something I wish to ask you." Naruto then opened the map and saw it was a map of Konoha with a few stores marked in red, with a list of items near each of them. The closest one to him was the pharmacy, which was just around the corner.

The duo approached the store and stuck to the shadows to not be seen by the villagers. Obscuro took notice of the boy looking around, his dangers senses fully active. But while they were good for a human, nothing can escape a shadow-demon…

-Obscuro-

Naruto was looking out for any passer-by's, when suddenly he felt something cold and heavy drape over his back and eyes and tried to yell "Hey-" Then he fell silent.

He felt as though he was being hollowed out and refilled at the same time, while winds buffeted his sides. In his mind, he was screaming in fright 'what are you doing!? Let go!' He tried to keep struggling, when suddenly he felt a strong flick on his forehead. This action told Naruto everything. "Obscuro…? Why…?" He was about to ask more when his eyes were forced open.

He found himself standing in the exact same spot as before, but as he looked down, the blond saw what happened.

His hands were encased in the same shadowy substance that Obscuro was made of. His fingers looked like claws and so did his feet. He turned around, and saw that a black, demonic cape fluttered behind him as though it had a mind of its own. All in all, it creeped Naruto out, but what was even creepier was the constant feeling of gusts at his back and the whispering. Quiet, snake-like whispering that seemed to surround him.

He gulped and asked in a nervous voice "O-Obscuro, what is this?" For a few seconds nothing happened, when another surprise struck Naruto.

He saw an image play out in his head where he saw himself pressing on the shadowy side of the building and suddenly melting into its shadow. For a moment the blond couldn't even see himself, but then he saw his cloaked form rise out of a shadow from behind. Then the image was gone.

Naruto shook his head to regain his senses and looked at the building's shadow. He then thought in realization 'Can I…?' He slowly walked over to the shadow, and

pressed himself against it. What happened next though, shouldn't have surprised him.

He felt himself sinking into the wall.

Well, calling it 'sinking' wouldn't be entirely accurate. It would be more accurate to call it being spread out, stretched, and then being sucked into a vortex, with a little bit of sinking for extra. This combination of unpleasant sensations was what Naruto experienced as he went into the wall. 'Ugh, that's nasty' Naruto thought as he tried to regain his senses. When he adjusted his eyesight, he yelped out in shock.

Instead of seeing the street, he saw that everything turned red and black. The shadows from the building looked like smoking black pools. A villager passed by and to Naruto, it was as though he was glowing red, with the same black pool at the bottom of his legs, following him as he walked by. The sky flickered with red and black, and the buildings themselves were lined with black shadows that danced around in frenzy, as though a constant wind was blowing.

Naruto looked around in awe and fear. It was as though the whole world was made of shadow. Then, a thought crept into his head 'is this how Obscuro always sees things? I don't think I would be able to handle it like this.' Naruto then felt another forehead flick. 'The store. Right.'

Naruto looked into the store and saw several shelves of items. He couldn't see what the items were, but there was a large shadow from the shelves, hidden from the storeowner's sight. Naruto then focused onto the shadow and he imagined himself popping out of it.

The blond then saw himself under said shadow. Acting quickly, he pushed against the shadow pool trying to get out. The shadow felt like tar and water and Naruto nearly lost his hold, but he managed to push himself through the shadow and into the store.

Blinking and trying to regain his balance, he saw that he was standing in an aisle with the same shelf he saw before. He turned around to look at the aisle, but nearly jumped back in surprise at what he saw. Reflected off a glass pane, the young Uzumaki saw himself cloaked in the same shadows he saw outside the store, but his head was what surprised him. It was as if a smaller version of Obscuro's head was attached to his head like a mask, with only his blue eyes peeking through the eyeholes. He looked closer, before whispering out: "Cool."

He opened the map in his hands and took a look at the list. He spoke in a low tone "Ok, first, I'm gonna need some sumac leaves…"

Naruto then began picking out and carefully taking the items on the list. Whenever he picked up one, the item disappeared into his 'shadow-cloak', as he called it. He then looked up at the last item on the list, a lighter. The blond started scouring the aisles carefully trying to find one. After a minute of searching, he found one, but the supply was located right above the shopkeeper's head. Said shopkeeper was lazily reading a newspaper.

Naruto recognized the shopkeeper from one of the mobs that chased him when he was younger. He had to get that lighter, but he didn't know how to do so without alerting him. Then, the blond saw another image play out in his head: He saw himself raising a finger and a small tendril of shadow grabbed a lighter from the shelf before receding back.

Having already experienced this, Naruto imitated what was shown to him. He raised a finger and focused on the shadow that was under the lighter's shelf. As he focused, Naruto saw that a tendril started to slowly form and wrap around the lighter. The blond narrowed his eyes in concentration as he tried to lift the lighter back up into the shelf floor. But there was a rustling of paper and the shopkeeper turned in his seat.

The blond lost his concentration for a brief moment and the lighter nearly slipped from the tendril's grasp. Naruto took a deep breath, silently thanking whoever was up there for avoiding a potential catastrophe. He tried again, and this time managed to pull the lighter into the shadow. He then headed to the back aisle and pressed against the shadows.

After experiencing the maelstrom of unpleasant sensations once more, Naruto found himself in the alley in which he started. He then pulled out the map and said in resignation "On to the next one…"

Every store Naruto would reach, he repeated the same process: shadow-travelled to the back of the store, acquire the items and exit unnoticed. Thankfully, there were no other situations like the one with the lighter.

More than an hour later, the blond slumped down in exhaustion and dizziness at a shadowy alley. "Man" he said "I do not want to do that again. The shadow-thing makes me sick." He wiped his forehead and looked around. The alley was relatively clean. Out of the corner of his eye, he heard the sounds of fighting on its end. Curious, the young Uzumaki crept to the alley's opening and saw a building with a large courtyard, where two older children seemed to be fighting one another with other children watching them along with an adult. He remembered then that this was the Ninja Academy.

He was about to turn back, when he felt the shadow-cloak slide off him. He looked back and saw the demonic form of Obscuro materializing out of the ground, instead of its usual shadowy impression. The shadow-demon pulled out the small board and chalk and wrote "You did well." Naruto gave a little glare and replied "Next time you do that to me, warn me first." Obscuro replied "Irrelevant. You were off guard. Let this be a lesson to you."

Naruto grumbled in response. Obscuro simply wrote down another message "It is a stroke of luck that we are here, because there is something I wish to discuss with you." Naruto waved his hand for the shadow-demon to continue. "You haven't noticed this since you rarely left the house for the past month, but we are being watched." Naruto widened his eyes at this, but Obscuro quickly wrote down "They haven't entered the area of the house, but they are watching close by. From my observations, they are ninja sent by the Hokage." Naruto scratched his head in thought. 'Ninja sent by the Hokage? Does that mean…' He focused on Obscuro and asked "What did they look like?" The reply was: "Their distinctive feature was the animal masks that they wore."

Several memories flashed in Naruto's mind. Sometimes, when the mobs would corner him, masked ninjas would swoop down and push the villagers back. Other times, in the same situation, he saw them looking away instead. "Them? Why?"

Obscuro smacked its palm on Naruto's head and wrote "Figure it out. I have been teaching you for a reason." Naruto huffed in indignation, but then tapped his chain in forethought. After a few seconds, he spoke. "I'm the Kyuubi's container. That means I'm strong. Really strong. The Hokage doesn't want to lose me because he doesn't want anyone else getting strong. Right?"

Obscuro nodded and wrote "Correct. The night you first came into the house, they followed you there but thanks to my efforts, they didn't go beyond the tree ring." Naruto hummed in response. "Regardless, I have a question for you. Do you want to become a ninja?"

At this, Naruto jerked up wide eyed. He hadn't expected this question. Nevertheless, it was a good question, so he leaned his back against the wall and began to think.

During his time at Obscuro's house, Naruto sometimes found himself thinking back on the village. He read from smuggled library books that ninjas were warriors, guardians and protectors that saved people and rescued princesses. His experiences with several ninja however, made him doubt the validity of those tales. Even when he read more advanced books, they all portrayed ninja, at least Konoha's, in a positive light. His experiences with several ninjas however, made him question the validity of those stories. Another thing that he read was the fact that ninjas were loyal to their village (most of the time), had to obey their Kage/leader, and protect its citizens AKA villagers at all costs.

This was where Naruto's thoughts of becoming a ninja deteriorated. He held an intense dislike bordering on hatred towards the villagers because of all that they had done to him. Why should he protect people who don't even want him to live? In addition, he would be forced to take orders from people, who probably hated him too. The Hokage might be the only one who didn't hate him, but he hadn't had much interaction with the man. Finally, being a ritualist sounded better simply because of the fact that someone actually helped him and he could somewhat relate to. Two demons, in the eyes of Konoha, were a perfect team-up.

Naruto sighed and spoke "No. I don't want to be a ninja. Why should I when all the village has shown me nothing but hate? I wanna be with you. You, a demon, saved me, gave me a home and taught me much more than humans."

Obscuro looked at him for a few seconds before writing "I somewhat expected that. Human nature is so easy to predict." Naruto's eyebrow twitched but didn't say anything. "Be warned, even if you don't wish to become a ninja, you might be forced to by the Hokage due to your 'condition', but we will deal with that when the time comes." Naruto nodded with a smile. "Now let's go back. We will start life-force training soon." Naruto gave a bigger smile "Yeah! Let's do this!" The pair soon snuck through the village and back into the forest, with the blond unaware that someone was watching them...

-Obscuro-

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, frowned. He attempted to use his crystal ball for the past month to try and see where Naruto was or what was he doing. Each time, he could only see dark shadows, or on rare occasion, a house that matched Weasel's description. Today he tried to use the ball again, when he finally managed to locate Naruto. He saw him enter a store before something black crept up behind him and attacked the boy. Then the ball went to black again. He tried again for several minutes, before seeing flashes of Naruto wearing some black cape, entering and leaving stores. He had a guess of why Naruto was doing it while trying to remain unseen (damn villagers) before he saw Naruto appear again in full at an alley near the Academy.

The Hokage then saw Naruto talking to someone, but every time he would try to focus on the figure, the image would distort. Relenting after a couple of tries, he readjusted the view to Naruto. After reading his lips, Hiruzen rubbed his forehead.

'How could this have happened? I knew that the villagers would try and take things too far, but I never imagined that they would cause Naruto to avoid ninja life altogether. I am going to have to think of something to help him. What was more worrying though, was that black cloak and the figure he talked to. Are those two connected? If so, who is this? And what is a ritualist?'

He then saw the blond leaving back to the forest. After watching him for a few minutes, the ball turned black again. The aged leader sighed and smoked his pipe. "Maybe a friend would help Naruto gain a tie to the village..."

-Obscuro-

(1) Is this translation correct? If not, where can I find a good translator?

(2) I am bad at writing fight scenes. If you want those, someone PM me and teach me how to write them. I will try in the future regardless.

(3) Detailed Descriptions will come soon

Hi guys! So sorry for the delay, I was in China and school started so, yeah delays. But fear not! This story will continue!

Naruto might or might not (my decision) gain a friendly acquaintance in Konoha, but he will not be loyal to it or want anything to do with the village. He is staying because of the house.

IMPORTANT: What do you want to see next Chapter?

Single or Harem?

BETA/HELP NEEDED!

See ya!


	6. Chapter 5 - Lesson 2: Life-Force

**Chapter 5 – Lesson 2: Life-force**

 **See disclaimers on prologue.**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! BETA NEEDED! This is my first real fanfic so advice is needed and welcome!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

* * *

A day passed after the duo's outing, and now Naruto and Obscuro were sitting in the library. Naruto was sitting on his chair while Obscuro was using the chalk and board. "Before we begin, you will be performing an exercise that will help you twofold. I presume you have studied the chakra scrolls I have given you?" Obscuro wrote.

Naruto nodded and replied "Yeah, I did. I know about chakra control, chakra flow and chakra manipulation. I also know about the leaf exercise and chakra-walking (1)." Obscuro wrote back "Good. Have you performed the basic exercises?" A moment of silent passed as Naruto let out an awkward smile and stammered "U-um, I studied them but I-I was busy with the rituals so...heh-heh?" This just prompted Obscuro to flick the blond again, earning the shadow-demon a shout of indignation from him. It wrote back "We will have to work on your priorities later. Fetch the scroll with the exercises."

Naruto dashed out of the room and came back a minute later with the aforementioned scroll. "Good" the demon wrote "open to the leaf exercise section. You will perform the exercise – it shall help you with your chakra control and give you an idea of what I shall instruct you to do next." With those words, a leaf flew in from the open window and lay on Naruto's forehead.

The jinchuuriki opened his mouth before sending a look of irritation towards the shadow-demon. ' _Like that leaf just randomly flew in here_ ' he thought. He then sighed, closed his eyes and focused on the leaf.

If one was to describe the sensation of gathering chakra, it would be like water rushing through the entire body before forming a pool at a specified spot. This was what Naruto felt as he gathered his chakra onto his forehead. After a few seconds of attempt, the leaf stuck firmly on his forehead. Naruto maintained this position for a minute, before another flick shook his concentration and made the leaf fall. He turned to the board with another frustrated stare before viewing the new message: "Do you remember the sensation of the flowing chakra?"

The blond raised an eyebrow and nodded. Obscuro wrote back "Good. Now hold this." At those words a small object was placed in front of him.

The object in question was a small, bronze-colored metal sphere that fit nicely in Naruto's small palm. Its surface was lined with connecting grooves and circles. There were two large circles on opposite ends. Naruto tilted his head sideways in confusion before looking at the board. Obscuro answered the unasked question "That is what we shall use to draw your life-force out. Now brace yourself, this might be a little discomforting."

A swarm of shadow tendrils lashed out and stuck to Naruto's arms and back. Naruto moved to react when he felt a massive surge of…something flowing through him and traveling through his body. If Naruto could compare, he would say that if his chakra felt like flowing water, then this new sensation felt like electricity, wild and uncontrollable.

The blond asked in a frightened tone "W-what did you do to me?" He looked at the board that now read: "I gave you a little push. Remember the leaf exercise. Remember the sensation of your chakra flowing through you as you pushed it towards the leaf. Now do the same with this. Focus this energy into the sphere."

Naruto blinked and took a deep breath. He remembered the water-like flow of his chakra and how he pushed it towards the leaf. He tried to "push" this new energy inside him into the sphere, only to find out it was harder than he thought; it was as if this energy was resisting him. Nevertheless, he kept pushing.

Several seconds later, he felt the energy reach his hands. To his amazement, Naruto saw that the grooves on the sphere were lighting up in a white light.

He heard the familiar chalk-scratch on the board and looked up to see the new message: "Good. What you see is your life-force, the first step of starting a ritual. Like jutsu, every ritual needs a set amount of life-force to activate. Unlike most jutsu however where you can pump extra chakra into it to make it stronger, you need to use an exact amount of life-force in a ritual. Otherwise, the ritual might implode on itself."

After reading the message Naruto said "That's new. But my arms are starting to feel really weird." Obscuro wrote back "Which is why I want you to practice this exercise every day for 5 minutes from now on." Naruto replied with a simple "Sure."

Obscuro wrote back "Do this for 5 minutes, go over your exercises, then go eat. I shall catch a rabbit for you. You will skin and prepare it."

During Naruto's stay at the mansion, Obscuro had shown him how to prepare meat and wild plants. The shadow-demon stated that this would be good practice for ritual preparation. Naruto went through with it because he could finally learn how to cook something so that he could eat. Food was scarce to him due to his previous experiences, so the thought of being able to get food on his own thrilled him. With this, he also gained knowledge on body parts and ingredient preparation.

Unknown to the boy, the other purpose in this lesson was to desensitize the blond to blood and gore. The shadow-demon knew that Naruto – due to his tenant – would be in encounters that will most likely force him to kill or bloody his opponent.

After couple of hours of gruelling exercises and lessons, Naruto went and skinned the large rabbit, then went outside, just near the house to light a fire. As he lit up a match when he saw that two human silhouettes were crouching on the tree branches a small distance away. Without warning, those two leapt at high speeds towards the blond.

Biting back a curse, Naruto tried to turn around and run back into the house, when Obscuro's shadow tendrils latched onto his feet keeping him rooted to the ground. He was about to raise his arms in defence, but blood flooded his sight.

Just as the two men – looking closer, they were leaf-ninja - were about to make the final sprint towards Naruto, giant shadow spears burst from the ground and impaled the two men. Hard enough to bisect them in an explosion of blood and guts.

Despite his growing desensitization, Naruto felt his stomach churn and bile arise in his throat. It was only thanks to his life in the village and Obscuro's training that he didn't puke.

He attempted to clear his head of the sounds of death that he just heard, when Naruto noticed something very, very odd and familiar.

The ground around him and the house was glowing red. Just like when he went "shopping" with Obscuro.

This time however, the glow seemed to form lines and several shapes. But as the lines were made clearer, Naruto understood.

"A ritual circle" he whispered in awe. "It's a giant ritual circle."

He felt himself turning sideways to see the small board that Obscuro carried. On it was written: "Correct. When I mentioned protection, I meant this. As you can see, anyone who tries to enter the house without permission will receive a very nasty surprise."

Naruto gulped and muttered "Yeah, that's protection." Obscuro threw a pebble at the two corpses and wrote "Time for a little test. Tell me, do you see anything different about them?"

"They're dead." He said in a flat tone. Cue pebble to forehead. "Ouch!"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned to look at the bodies. He cringed at the open hole across their sides, but something caught his eye.

"There's a lot less blood than I saw before." He commented. He turned back to see the new message "Correct. This is a **continuous circle.** It runs by itself for a period of time and needs the occasional boost to power it back up. In this case it's life-force from blood. The more blood that feeds it, the stronger the circle will grow."

Naruto whistled in awe. Then a thought came to his head. "Since nearly the entire village hates me, if they try and come here..." Obscuro wrote back "Yes. Like flies to honey. Very dangerous honey."

Naruto simply nodded, lost in thought. By then the grounds have stopped glowing. His stomach then growled. He snapped his head up and cried "Ah! The food!"

As the boy went back to preparing his meal, Obscuro used his shadows to swallow up the corpses. The shadow-demon started thinking about this little incident.

 _ **'It seems like the situation is starting to grow. I will make sure that the boy will grow with the situation and more. He will need more weapons and combat training if he wishes to survive. I will also need to accelerate his ritual learning to advance him to a combat level. To do that, I might have to take a few trips outside the village. Perhaps I shall bring him with me. It would do good for him to see what the world is like, as well as a few of its more hidden corners...'**_

It continued to ponder in thought until it felt several human presences arriving from the forest. Taking the board back into the house, it watched as two figures moved closer to the house. Opening the ritual barrier as to not arouse suspicion, Obscuro made the mental equivalent of widening its eyes, mirroring Naruto's surprised cry: "Hokage-san!?"

 **-Obscuro-**

 _A few minutes earlier, in the Hokage's office..._

Hiruzen Sarutobi was attempting to relax by reading an orange book and smoking his pipe after a frustrating council meeting. It went as usual, with talks of finance, patrols, intel, academy standards, and the usual back-and-forth argument of Naruto Uzumaki's existence. The latter case caused him to remember Naruto's monologue. He let out a sigh of tiredness.

"I should have expected this to happen" he whispered. The Hokage tapped his pipe against the table as he pondered what to do next. "His time in the village has caused him to be mistrustful of other people, this much I can tell." He said to himself. A thought then crept into his head.

 _'If I talk to him, maybe I can find out some things...'_ The Hokage got up from his chair and called "Weasel!" In an instant, the ANBU codenamed Weasel appeared before him. "Take me to Naruto's new residence immediately." Weasel bowed and grabbed the Hokage as they both disappeared in a burst of speed.

Soon enough, the two started to approach the area. "Has anyone attempted to seek out Naruto's location?" He asked.

Weasel simply replied "None that were successful. I made sure that the rest of the squad wouldn't say a word."

The Hokage nodded to this. They were about to enter the clearing when he felt his entire body shiver. It was as though an ominous presence was watching him and he couldn't find out from where. "Was this what you felt when you came here?" He asked. A silent nod came from the ANBU.

Nevertheless, as appropriate for the one with the title **Shinobi no Kami** _(God of Shinobi)_ , he took the final jump towards the clearing.

The house was indeed unusual, as it didn't match anything that the village had. The area surrounding the house seemed barren, as though the trees refused to grow there. Just a few feet in front of the house was Naruto, eating some meat by a fire.

 _'How come no one noticed this house before? By the looks of its age as well as its unusual appearance, people should have definitely seen it.'_ He pondered. The Hokage took a quick look backwards at their trail. _'Maybe because it's near the Forest of Death? Or its distance from the village? The trees seem to be blocking it as well...'_

Mentally filing those thoughts for later, he approached the blond, who turned to him with a surprised cry "Hokage-san!?"

He smiled at the boy and greeted him "Hello, Naruto-kun. So, this is your new home?" Naruto looked at him with wide eyes and nodded. He approached the fire and asked "May I sit?" Naruto nodded again. Sarutobi sat down and pulled out his pipe. He turned to the boy and asked in a calm tone "I am sorry for not noticing your situation with the orphanage sooner. I made sure that this wouldn't happen again."

Naruto tilted his head and said "Oh. Thank you, but I like it here better." He then returned to eating the meat.

The Hokage simply nodded and sat in silence, smoking. A few minutes passed as the sky grew red with the setting sun approaching the horizon.

The Hokage looked towards Naruto and asked "Naruto, do you know what I do?" The boy looked towards him and replied "You're the village's leader. You protect it and its citizens."

"Very good. Who else protects the village?" Naruto raised an eyebrow and answered "The ninja, why?"

 _'Time to see if it's true.'_ Sarutobi took a drag of his pipe and asked "How would you like to go to the academy to become a ninja Naruto?"

Naruto opened his mouth slightly before closing it. Raising his eyes up to the sky and humming, he looked back at the Hokage before saying: "No."

Inwardly, Sarutobi sighed in sorrow. To the boy, he asked "Why?"

Naruto fiddled with the remains of his food before asking "People become ninjas to protect the village, right? To protect their families? Why should I become a protector to a village that hates me?"

Raising an eyebrow at the boy's statement while thinking _'He is very smart for his age. No thanks to the villagers...'_ He responded by saying "If you give them the chance, they will see past their hatred for you." Naruto simply shot back "You mean their hatred for the fox."

Drawing a breath in alarm, he leaned towards the blond before asking in a serious tone "How do you know?"

Naruto widened his eyes and scratched his head for a moment before answering in a nervous tone "I-I saw him when I first fell asleep here. He told me what happened." The Hokage frowned and asked "Did it say anything else?"

Naruto shook his head. "N-no. He said that they hated me because they think I am him. That I k-killed their families."

Sarutobi went and clasped Naruto's shoulders. "They are wrong. You are NOT the fox. You are its jailer, its vessel. You are the hero of this village." Naruto shook his head again and said "The villagers don't think so, and I don't intend to change their thoughts. One thing the fox did tell me is that humans don't change and hate what they don't understand."

"That's not true. People can change." Naruto simply replied "Even after years of hatred?"

Sarutobi nodded and let go of the boy. Naruto slumped down before looking him in the eye "That still doesn't change my mind. I'm not becoming a ninja." The blond stood and started heading towards the house.

Sarutobi sighed and asked "You learnt how to read yourself, am I right?" Naruto turned and nodded. Knowing the boy's desire for knowledge he said "There are things that you need another person's help to learn. The academy can help you with that. If you're a student there, you can use the library.

You can also make friends with other children there. I made it a law for the villagers not to tell their children about your burden. They can still see you as you, Naruto."

The boy looked down in thought. The Hokage took note of the darkening sky before asking "Why don't you come to my office within a week to answer me? Take time to think about this. I just wish to help you Naruto."

He turned towards Weasel who nodded. In an instant, both of them were jumping through the trees back to the village.

 _'If he does choose to come, I might have to do a check on the teachers. I can't have them ruin his attempts at learning.'_ Sarutobi thought as he approached his office. _'He needs to be a ninja to protect himself, even if he doesn't see that.'_

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto entered the house and went up to his bedroom. He sat on the bed and sighed. He looked to his desk and saw his notebook and his makeshift attempts at ritual circles. He rubbed his head as he couldn't get the Hokage's words out of his mind.

Obscuro's board soon floated into the room. On it was written "Interesting talk. He does have a point you know. About learning from others."

Naruto nodded and said "I know. But that means I'll have to protect that village. The village that hates me. Their looks never changed as I grew up. People don't change.

Also, if I do become a ninja, he will find some way to keep an eye on me. He'll find you and all of...this and he will take me away."

Obscuro wrote back with blinding speed "That will not happen. I swear it. Although you do raise a few good points. I shall dwell on this. Good move with the whole 'Kyuubi' thing. I have taught you well. Go to sleep"

Naruto smiled at the praise. This was the first actual praise that the shadow-demon gave him, apart from the usual "correct" or "good".

He yawned, took a quick bath (again the water in the tub was clean) and went to bed. He closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

* * *

Deep within the seal on the boy's stomach, the great **Kyuubi no Yoko** ( _Nine-tailed Demon Fox_ ) stirred. Over the recent month, it had noticed the changes within the boy, most notably when he drew on his life force today.

 **"Heh-heh-heh. This is turning out to be differently than I thought. A human picking him up maybe, but I have never heard of your kind before shadow-demon. One day, the three of us will meet. I'm sure we will have a rather...** _ **interesting**_ **talk. Heh-heh-heh-heh..."**

* * *

 **Hello and welcome to another chapter! I have an idea for one person in the pairing (secret), but what do you think I should do with the academy?**

 **Read and REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEEEWWWW!**

 **(1) Naruto has only read the scrolls. His desire for knowledge rather helps him in that regard. But he does NOT know how to perform them (save for the leaf exercise). I am trying to not make him a genius – merely determined.**


	7. Chapter 6 - One Year Later

**Chapter 6 – One Year Later**

 **See disclaimers on prologue.**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! BETA NEEDED! This is my first real fanfic so advice is needed and welcome!**

 **NOTE: This is more of a flashback chapter, because I didn't want (and didn't know) how to cover all the new information but don't worry, the plot will advance…**

 **NOTE 2: Go back to Chapter 3 for reference – you will need it**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

 _ **One year later…**_

The Third Hokage took a drag out of his pipe as he looked at the crowd below. In front of him were the parents of the academy's new students. These were going to be the future of this village. As he gave his welcoming speech, his thoughts wandered to a certain blond jinchuuriki's decision about a year ago…

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _He was just finishing up his latest batch of paperwork (and cursing its existence) when he heard a knock on his door. Mentally thanking the distraction, he called out for a name. The response brightened his mood a bit._

 _Into his office entered Naruto. Gesturing to his chair he said "Ah, Naruto-kun, come sit down."_

 _Naruto did so, and both of them sat in silence for a minute. Sarutobi took this time to silently asses the boy in front of him._

 _He was wearing dark-grey cargo pants, a black t-shirt and on his feet were blue shinobi sandals. Having an idea of the shopkeepers' attitude towards him, the Hokage was surprised that the clothes were in rather good condition. His tell-tale blond hair and whisker marks – a sign of being the Kyuubi's vessel – remained the same, except that his hair was cleaner. Come to think of it, Naruto was rather clean for someone living in an old house with no plumbing or electricity. Maybe a watering hole was nearby and the clothes were acquired through petty theft. Still, it didn't matter. The boy deserved some pleasures after his (admittedly short) harsh time in the village._

 _The true sign of change however, was seen in Naruto's eyes and posture. Back when the Hokage visited him in the orphanage, he always had this glimmer of relief in his eyes and seemed to shrink on himself, no doubt thanks to the other children's treatment of him. Now however, he sat with a straight back and his eyes held a spark of determination – like he was showing the world that he wasn't afraid anymore._

 _Blinking from his musings, Sarutobi smiled at Naruto. "So my boy, have you come to a decision?"_

 _Naruto nodded. "Yes, I've decided that I still won't go to the academy and I won't become a ninja. The teachers will most likely try and stop me from learning anything, the other kids' parents still tell them to stay away from me and it'll just give the villagers another excuse to go after me. Besides, like I told you before, why should I protect people that hate me?"_

 _Sarutobi frowned at that declaration. Although a small part of him did expect this finality. 'It would seem that the damage has been done' he thought. He was about to try and pose a counter-argument when Naruto continued to speak._

 _"But you're right. There's stuff that I do need someone to teach me. So, I was thinking maybe I could have a, a..."_

 _"A tutor?" Naruto nodded in response and added "That doesn't hate me."_

 _The Hokage gazed pensively at Naruto. 'Naruto won't be able to interact with the village nearly as much as I would want, let alone make friends, but maybe there is a good side to this. If he has someone that actually teaches him and get to know him on a personal level, maybe he'll stop being distrustful around people. But who do I pick?'_

 _He continued to think for a moment before addressing his ANBU guard "Fetch me Yugao-san." Seeing Naruto's unspoken question, he reassured him "She is one of my most trusted ninja. She doesn't hate you and she is very knowledgeable in ninjutsu, kenjutsu and taijutsu."_

 _Naruto hummed in response before settling into silence for a few minutes. "Fine Hokage-san, but –"_

 _At that moment, Yugao Uzuki appeared in the room. Sarutobi smiled at her "Yugao-san, thank you for coming." Naruto looked at her before asking "Neko-san?"_

 _He turned to the boy in surprise "How did you know?" Naruto gave him a deadpan look "Her hair." Ah. Well, that was rather obvious._

 _Naruto continued to speak "It's fine Hokage-san, but as I was going to say, can the lessons be done in a training ground or at her house?" The request surprised him, although he didn't show it. "Why?"_

 _Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but he seemed to be lost in thought. After a few seconds, he replied "I don't think my house is suited for ninja lessons. That and I don't trust anyone to follow her and discover it."_

 _Ah. Well, he should have remembered that the boy was rather mistrustful of others. Seeing as how he had little to no possessions to his name at the moment, the fear of losing a safe place to the villagers seemed rather frightening. Besides, it might help him grow more attached to the village instead of being isolated from it. Also, the house did look rather flimsy "Very well. Yugao-san, could you take Naruto to the ANBU training grounds? There are plenty of facilities there and I shall arrange it so that no one will barge in on you."_

 _The purple-haired woman bowed "Yes, Hokage-sama." She moved to Naruto and they both disappeared with a whoosh._

 _'I hope this works out well' Sarutobi blinked and looked at his desk "DAMMIT! WHERE DOES IT COME FROM!?" he screamed in outrage at the newest batch of paperwork. Sighing in dismay, he picked up a sheet._

 _He tilted his head in confusion at the written complaint "A shortage of chalk in the academy?" He mumbled "what the hell does that mean?"_

 _ **(Flashback end)**_

 _'I had hoped that Naruto would change his mind, but it seems that his scars run deep'_ he thought in sadness. Shaking his head, he finished by announcing "I officially proclaim you Ninja Academy Students! May the Will of Fire burn within you!" Cheers went up from the crowd.

As the new students headed towards the academy building, Sarutobi turned his head to the forest and whispered "I wonder what he's doing now…"

 **-Obscuro-**

In the 'Forest House' as he had dubbed it, the young jinchuuriki was attempting to perform one of the most gruelling tasks he was ever given during his stay here: drawing a perfect circle with no ruler or compass.

 _SMACK!_ "OW!" He looked at the floating board in anger only to see the same message: "Again."

Rubbing his red wrist, he took the chalk in his hand and drew on the floor for what seemed like the millionth time. It looked like a perfect circle, but with Obscuro, you couldn't tell. After a few seconds of scrutinizing, the board said "good."

Sighing in relief, Naruto Uzumaki stood up. He had changed quite a bit in the last year. He stood a nice 155 cm, having grown a few centimeters as the time went by. He wore a black ANBU shirt, dark-grey cargo pants with six large pockets, and closed shinobi sandals (no toes). A ninja tool pouch was worn at his hip. He had lost some baby fat and gained some muscle thanks to his training with Yugao-san and Obscuro.

When Yugao was appointed as his tutor, they met up three times a week at a reserved ANBU training ground for several hours. Like the Hokage said, she didn't hate him at all and made an effort to teach him.

Naruto learned from her basic to intermediate taijutsu, and could last against her for a good 10 minutes before getting his ass kicked. She also taught him shurikenjutsu and history, with a few hidden facts as rewards for training. But what Naruto truly thanked her for was for teaching him about chakra and ninjutsu.

Surprised at Naruto's knowledge of chakra and the leaf exercise, she challenged Naruto to perform a _**Shunshin no Jutsu**_ (Body Flicker Technique) using only a scroll. After reading through it several times, he attempted to perform it only to appear halfway through and crash into the ground.

Apparently Obscuro was right; you can't learn everything by yourself.

After questioning his knowledge of chakra (and silently cussing the villagers), Yugao agreed to train him in chakra and ninjutsu. After a few months, he could use chakra to boost his body, perform the _**Shunshin, Kawarimi no Jutsu**_ (Substitution Technique)and the _**Henge no Jutsu**_ (Transformation Technique), but he couldn't perform the _**Bunshin no Jutsu**_ (Clone Technique) no matter how hard he tried.

Obscuro had fun mocking his pathetic excuse for clones.

After failing to perform the _**bunshin**_ for the umpteenth time, Yugao asked a fellow ANBU to check if there was something wrong with his chakra coils. It turned but that there was nothing wrong with them, but thanks to the Kyuubi and (unknowingly to him) his Uzumaki heritage, he simply had an enormous amount of chakra for his age, so his control was very sloppy.

As a result, his genjutsu skills would be mediocre at best.

After asking permission from the Hokage, who understood his situation, Naruto was taught the _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_ (Shadow Clone Technique); a jutsu that created solid clones instead of illusions. Unlike the _**bunshin**_ , he successfully performed the technique after five tries – and created more than a dozen of them. Boy, was that jutsu useful in a fight.

In parallel, Obscuro had taught Naruto much over the past year. While acting as a treasure trove of history and information, and as a useful sparring partner (in shadow-puppet form), the shadow-demon's tutelage of rituals was by far Naruto's favorite part of the past year.

In fact, one memory would forever be etched into the blonde's mind: when he performed his first ever ritual…

 **(Flashback)**

 _ **Four months ago…**_

 _Naruto was sitting in the library, reading a favorite Latin poem of his,_ _ **"De crystallo cui aqua inerat"**_ _(On a crystal that contained water) by a poet named Claudian. As part of his Latin learning, Obscuro had him read aloud passages from scriptures and literature, then translate them._

" _Possedit glacies naturae signa prioris  
et fit parte lapis, frigora parte negat.  
sollers lusit hiems, imperfectoque rigore  
nobilior vivis gemma tumescit aquis."_

 _Taking a deep breath, he translated:_

" _A piece of ice retains signs of its one-time nature  
partly becoming stone, partly rejecting the cold.  
Expertly plays the winter, and with rigidity incomplete  
the gemstone swells more noble still with living drops of water."_

 _A tapping sound was heard. Looking up, he saw Obscuro's chalk tapping the board, with a message. "Very good. You have improved much with Latin."_

 _Naruto blushed at the praise. "A-ah, thank you. I just really like some of the writings."_

 _The shadow-demon wrote "Understandable. It is a crime not to enjoy such art. Humans may be a lot of bad things, but some of them can create such masterpieces."_

 _He nodded in agreement. "I have decided, after watching your progress, both here and with the female, that the time has come for you to perform your very first ritual."_

 _Naruto gaped in astonishment. "R-really?"_

 _Seeing Obscuro write "yes", Naruto jumped from his seat and cheered. "Yahoo! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou – "_

 _A flick on the forehead silenced him. "As I was going to state, I have decided you shall begin with a simple ritual, one which doesn't require any incantation or stimuli – The_ _ **Ritual of Clairvoyance**_ (千里眼の儀式, Senrigan no Gishiki) _."_

 _Scratching his head in thought, the blond spoke up "Didn't you mention that ritual before?"_

" _Indeed" Obscuro wrote "in fact, I do believe the ritual circle is in your notebook."_

 _Whipping out his notebook, Naruto confirmed this. Throughout the months, Naruto has filled that notebook with phrases, patterns and symbols all meant for rituals. Of course, due to his paranoia, it was all written in Latin._

" _Let us go to the living room. I don't want anything that goes wrong to damage this wonderful room."_

 _Mentally asking where was the concern for him, Naruto went into the living room and started drawing._

 _Taking a large compass and chalk, he drew a circle the size of a big dinner plate. He then drew the symbol core: Surrounding its center, he drew three smaller circles with the symbols for sight (an eye), target (the kanji for human '_ **人** _'_ _) and mind (a sun with a dot in the center). Finally, he drew the symbol matrix – a pentagram, which was used to affect a person specifically – to connect all of the symbols._

 _Satisfied with his work, Naruto thought about a target. He then saw two things: a photo of the Hokage in the center of his circle, and candles surrounding it. Looking up he saw the board._

" _I thought it would be better if you have a reminder in front of you. You can't use the ritual on photos alone, but they can help. Also,_ _ **always**_ _have a lit environment."_

 _Nodding, the blonde took deep breaths. Placing his hands on the circle's edge and looking at the photo, he began tracing his life-force onto it._

 _Feeling it move through the circle and pentagram, he pulled the world's aether into the circle. Sensing them connect, Naruto_ _ **pushed.**_

 _The circle lit up in a bluish-white glow. Sparks began spouting from it sizzling the air._

 _He felt his as though his hands were burning, but Naruto remained still. After a few agonizing seconds, he felt his eyes close, only to see a sight which brought relief to his heart: the Hokage, sitting in his office and…reading from an orange book while seemingly giggling._

 _Focusing on the vision for a minute, he let his life-force stop flowing and felt the burning sensation halt. Opening his eyes, he saw that the candles were blown out and the air had a burnt smell to it._

 _He looked to Obscuro's board, only to see it empty. After a few tense seconds, he saw the chalk writing down "Well?"_

 _Naruto immediately nodded. "I saw him. He was in his office reading…I think." Obscuro wrote "Excellent. You have done well. You are free for the rest of day."_

 _Beaming at the praise, he moved to stand up only to feel his legs wobble. 'Must've been more tiring than I thought.' He headed to his room, not seeing the circle being wiped away._

 **(Flashback end)**

Since that day, he had been practicing the Clairvoyance Ritual every two or three days. He had managed to use it without feeling burns within a matter of seconds. Practicing the same ritual multiple times seemed to familiarize it to the life-force.

Along with the Clairvoyance ritual, Naruto managed to learn two non-verbal (no incantation) rituals: The **Wood Growth Ritual** (成長木製儀式, Seichō Mokusei Gishiki), which could accelerate the growth of a sapling or seed to fruit-bearing levels depending on how much life-force is used, and the **Reconstruction Ritual** (再建の儀式, Saiken no Gishiki), which could reconstruct any broken object, if all of the parts are present.

Entering his room, Naruto looked to his desk. Thanks to Obscuro's tutelage, he now had stacks of papers covering it, all of them filled with ritual notes. Despite its tiring nature, the sight made Naruto let out a warm smile.

 **GURGLE!**

And a hungry stomach apparently.

"Oi, I'm gonna go out to catch something alright?!" Seeing no reply (and feeling no annoying tendrils), Naruto went to his bed and flipped the covers.

Laying there were two large, sheathed blades. The sheaths were a metallic black, looking rather nondescript. Drawing one of them, Naruto paused to gaze upon its visage.

When Obscuro gave the blades to him six months ago, he said that they were called Krisdaggers. The handle was black, with a curved pommel, and no guard. The blade itself was a bit shorter than Naruto's forearm, shaped in a wavy pattern, along with possessing jagged edges. All in all, a rather unique weapon, as Yugao described it.

In addition to chakra and ninja training, Yugao helped him train with the Kris _._ After partially lying to her on their origins (he said that he found them in the house), she helped him get used to it by sparring with him with her sword. On the side, Obscuro taught him how to use it properly.

The shadow-demon explained to him that the daggers would be ritual tools in addition to combat tools, since they drew more blood than a sword would.

Grabbing the daggers and using _shunshin_ to get out of the house, Naruto ventured into the forest. After running in a random direction for several minutes, he came across a wild boar.

Smirking, he whipped out the Kris and dashed to the boar's side, running it through before it could squeal.

After stabbing it again to confirm its death, Naruto fished out a scroll from one of his pockets. Opening and placing the dead boar on it, he sent a pulse of chakra and the boar disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After witnessing a group of ANBU one day performing the same thing, the blond asked Yugao about it. Seeing no harm, she told him that they were sealing scrolls that could be used to carry multiple objects at once.

Naruto then told Obscuro about it, when a day later he received from him multiple multi-use sealing scrolls that it took from the village.

Putting the scroll back in his pocket, he dashed off again. He kept going deeper into the forest, occasionally turning left or right. After encountering and hunting several rabbits and small boars, he was about to start heading back when he heard a squeal behind. Turning around, he widened his eyes.

"Wow, that's gotta be the daddy."

The 'daddy' was a rather large wild boar that was taller than Naruto. Its tusks were huge and it had an angry look in its eyes. And it was running towards him.

Cursing, Naruto rolled over to the side and dodged the boar. He dashed towards its rear and stabbed it with a Kris. But to his surprise, the dagger didn't go in very deep and got stuck.

The boar, having noticed Naruto by now, shook his back and threw Naruto onto the ground. Looking up, he saw that one of his daggers was stuck in the boar's back.

"Alright, let's do this." He stood up and dashed again at the boar, only to _shunshin_ to the side and throw a few shuriken that stuck to its side. He whistled to the boar and taunted "Come on, is that all you got?"

Enraged, the boar tried to charge only for Naruto to flicker in front of him and stab it in the forehead. After standing still for a second, the boar fell down.

Sighing in relief, Naruto removed both Kris and the shuriken from the boar before sealing it with the rest of his kills. Smiling in satisfaction, he turned to leave only to realize that in his scuffle with the boar, he had forgotten in which direction he came from.

"Dammit, where do I go?" He asked himself. Looking around, he searched for any landmarks that might give away his location.

He then remembered something: Konoha was in the east. As such, he needed to find out where east was. Looking up at the sky, he saw through the branches that the sun was closer to the horizon in front of him. Therefore, west was behind him.

Turning around, he made a mad dash through the forest, using _shunshin_ every now and then.

A few minutes later, he arrived at a walled neighborhood of the village. Turning left, he started running when he heard cheers and laughter coming from the bordering neighborhood. His curiosity compelling him, he climbed a nearby tree and peeked down.

A celebration of sorts was happening. A group of people - men, women and children, were standing around a young man in an ANBU outfit. In front of the man was presumably his family: A stern-looking man, a warm-eyed woman and a boy who was about his age He narrowed his eyes to get a better look, and he realized that the young man's ponytail was familiar.

"Itachi-san?" Looking around, he saw that the neighborhood was covered with a symbol of a red and white fan – the Uchiha clan's symbol.

Mentally berating himself for not noticing, he jumped from the tree and ran north to the Forest House, unaware that his exit was noticed by several of the people there, including Itachi.

 **-Obscuro-**

If you asked Itachi Uchiha what was his life like, he would probably not answer. But if you were to look into his mind, you would see the equivalent of him saying "My life is twisted."

Considered a prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi awakened his _Sharingan_ at a very young age. He had to uphold the expectations from his clan, most notably his father Fugaku, and to top that off, he recently got promoted to ANBU captain. With talks of a coup from Fugaku against the village, Itachi was inwardly torn.

On one hand he loved his village Konoha, and would do anything to defend it. On the other hand, he loved his family, especially his little brother Sasuke.

Now, he stood in front his family, surrounded by his clansmen, all congratulating him on his promotion. He could feel his father's approving gaze, along with the promise of a talk, and the adoring stares his mother Mikoto and Sasuke sent him.

Just as the celebration (and tension) reached its peak, he and several others heard the rustling of a nearby tree and out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur.

Acting on instinct, he jumped towards it while activating his _Sharingan._ Lagging behind his chasing clansmen, he recognized the chakra of the figure running towards the woods.

' _Naruto Uzumaki? What is he doing here at this hour?_ ' He stopped for a second to see one of the chasers catch the boy by his shirt. Seeing as how things might get ugly, a thought came to him.

 _'Perhaps I can alleviate some of the tension that's lingering with my father. Besides, I was his guard for a small while, so I am a bit curious as to what he has done recently.'_

With his mind made up, he appeared in front of the group and asked "What's going on here?"

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto ran and was about to turn into the forest, when he felt someone grab him from behind. Turning his head, he saw three (presumably) Uchiha ninja looking at him.

"Hey, what were you doing there?" one of them asked. Naruto was about to reply when another one spoke.

"Hey, isn't he the…you know" The Uchiha holding him leaned to closer. He then nodded. "Yeah, it's him." "What should we do with him?"

Inwardly panicking, Naruto was about to try and free himself when a soft voice called out "What's going on here?"

All of them turned to see Itachi Uchiha walking towards them. He looked at Naruto and smiled.

"Hello Naruto-kun. What are you doing here at this time of evening?" Naruto gulped and responded quickly.

"I-I was just out hunting when I heard people cheering, so I got curious and looked to see why. I wasn't s-s-spying or anything!" Itachi continued to look at him, while Naruto silently pleaded that he would believe him.

After what seemed like half an hour, but in reality a few seconds, Itachi asked the blond a question that completely threw him for a loop.

"Naruto-kun, would you like to eat dinner with me and my family tonight?"

Naruto opened his mouth in surprise and went to decline, but before he could do so Itachi added "It will take time for you to get to your house and prepare whatever you have caught, so this will save you time. I also have a little brother about your age that you could play with."

The ANBU's argument making sense and his hunger and fatigue reaching high levels, Naruto slumped down and conceded.

Itachi just smiled. "Good. Hang on."

Before he could blink, the young Uzumaki found himself back in the neighborhood – compound, he remembered – standing in front of Itachi's family.

"Mother, Father, Sasuke, this is Naruto-kun. I have invited him over for dinner if it's not too much trouble." The three family members stared at Naruto intently, while Naruto himself tried not to shrink under their gazes. What was different was the fact that those looks held no animosity or anger in them, merely…curiosity?

The mother spoke up with a smile "Of course son. In fact, the food is ready now, so why don't you come in?"

Wordlessly, Naruto and Itachi entered the house. It was decent-sized place, with several rooms and a small dining room. It had nothing on the Forest House though.

A few minutes later, the father and Sasuke entered and sat down. The father took a quick look at him before looking at Itachi, while Sasuke sat down next to him while looking up and down, as if though looking for something.

The mother soon entered with plates of sashimi and ramen bowls. She looked to Naruto and asked "What do you want to eat?"

"I'll try some of the ramen, thanks." Smiling, she handed him a bowl of ramen. She then sat down before saying "Itadakimasu!" The rest of the family and Naruto repeated.

Naruto took a slurp of his ramen. Having eaten primarily wild game, berries and stolen food for the past year, the blond was surprised at its taste. He kept slurping and occasionally takin a sashimi from the table.

"So, how is it?" he looked up from his meal to the mother. "It's good, it's good. It's just that I'm more used to cooked rabbit than anything, missus…uh?"

"Oh, didn't Itachi tell you? I'm Mikoto; my husband is Fugaku and the boy sitting next to you is Sasuke." Naruto just let out a small "hello" before resuming his feasting.

After a few minutes of silent eating (and three ramen bowls), Itachi spoke up. "So Naruto, I heard that the Hokage offered you a chance to go to the Academy this year. Are you going?"

Stopping mid-bite, Naruto swallowed before thinking. If he lied, they could easily check if he went. Besides, there was no harm in revealing that information.

"No, I refused." The Uchiha family turned to look at him. "May I ask why?"

Naruto thought for a moment how to word it without potentially insulting them, as Itachi was a loyal ninja "Lack of reason."

Itachi's eyes seemed to glimmer in understanding, while the rest of the family looked confused.

"A lack of reason? What do you mean?" asked Fugaku.

Naruto hesitated. He was about to repeat his statement before seeing Itachi give a small nod. Steeling himself, Naruto responded.

"People become ninjas for a reason. Sometimes it's for money, but most of the time it's for a very specific reason. I just lack that reason." He pointed at Itachi "Itachi-san, you became a ninja to protect your family, right?"

Itachi nodded. "That is the point. I have no family; I can make money some other way, so I don't want to become a ninja."

The family seemed to accept this explanation, while Mikoto just gave him a sad look.

After he filled his stomach, he got up. "Well, it's been nice, but I have to go back. Thank you for the meal though." Itachi also stood up "I can take you there Naruto-kun. It will take less time."

Knowing Obscuro was waiting for him he accepted. They both left the house and dashed into the forest. After a few minutes, they arrived at the house's clearing.

Naruto turned to leave when he heard Itachi speak. "It's not just family that we protect. We protect our friends, our homes and our values. I don't fault you for your way of thinking, but dwell on that Naruto-kun."

The statement echoing in his mind, Naruto dashed to the house. "I'm home!" He looked to see the library door open. Entering, he saw the chalk writing.

"You are late. Did something happen?" Not seeing a reason to inform Obscuro of the evening's incident, Naruto replied "I ate on the way back."

Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Obscuro wrote "Very well. Unload your kills at the dining hall and pack your things. We are going on a trip west tomorrow."

Naruto was surprised at this, and he was surprised enough today "A trip? What bought this on?"

"Since you declined to join the Academy and with your unique status, people are going to start asking questions and search for answers. It's best if we lay low for a while and taking a trip will suffice nicely." Seeing the logic in the answer, Naruto nodded.

"We leave at dawn tomorrow. Take your weapons and notebook along with the necessities. All will be explained when we arrive."

Naruto did as Obscuro told him. He unloaded his kills before going up to his room and sealing his clothes, some water, food and a couple of books (notebook included) into scrolls. Satisfied, he washed up and went to bed.

Next morning, he attempted to wake up only to close his eyes. As he was about to fall asleep again, he felt himself being yanked off the bed. Lifting his face from the floor, he glared at an apple that was apparently meant to be his breakfast.

He grabbed his scrolls and daggers before going downstairs while eating the apple. When he arrived, he saw the board.

"You must learn to wake up at the right time. Very well, let us leave. We shall shadow-travel there to minimize travel time." Finishing his apple, a thought came to him.

"What about the house?" "The continuous circle does not require my constant presence to function. No harm shall befall this place." Nodding, Naruto braced himself.

In an instant, he felt Obscuro's shadows wrap around him and drag him down. Opening his eyes, he saw the shadow-demon's horned form holding him by the stomach. Then, it moved.

Having experienced Obscuro's 'shadow world', Naruto was used to the whispering and buffeting shadows. What was new to him was the speed that they were moving and the view. The world seemed to blur in a mass of black and red while his whole body shivered at the speed that they were moving in. Trusting Obscuro however, Naruto didn't panic.

Every now and then they would pop up for Naruto to take a breather and a drink. This happened 3 times. Each time, Naruto took a look and saw the landscape change by a significant amount. Evidently, they were traveling far faster than a ninja could.

After a few hours, they popped up in the middle of wide grasslands. In front of him was Fire Country, with its forests visible on the horizon. He turned around and raised an eyebrow. The plains in front of him lacked trees and stretched out as far as the eye could see which wasn't really far. The reason?

Rain. It was heavily raining, with no end in sight.

Turning to Obscuro, he saw the board with a message "We have arrived. Beyond those rainy plains is what we seek. We shall have to tread by foot here, for I do not know if anything has changed.

But we shall have to be cautious. This is a boundary country with many ninja lurking about. This country even has its own hidden village."

Naruto asked "What's its name?" For some reason, the answer sent a small shiver down his spine.

"Amegakure – the village hidden in the rain"

 **-Obscuro-**

 **Ta-da! Cliffhanger! What do you think?**

 **Also check out my new story "Mugenjin of Judgement". It's a plot bunny that I had that refused to go away. Any suggestions in how to go with** **that** **story are welcome!**

 **Read and review. Review. REEEVIEEEEWWWWW!**


	8. Chapter 7 - Rain Country Part 1

I own nothing except my OCs

 **Before I get started on this chapter, two things:**

 **One, the timeline in Naruto is sometimes a little fuzzy when comes to parallel events, so some things might be off to you, but this is my decision regarding it after viewing certain events.**

 **Two, reviews are very important to me. Even a small "good job!" will do. That way I know if I am going well with this story.**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! BETA NEEDED!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

 **-Obscuro-**

 **Chapter 7 – Rain Country Part 1**

 _ **Last time on Obscuro…**_

 _Turning to Obscuro, he saw the board with a message "We have arrived. Beyond those rainy plains is what we seek. We shall have to tread by foot here, for I do not know if anything has changed._

 _But we shall have to be cautious. This is a boundary country with many ninja lurking about. This country even has its own hidden village."_

 _Naruto asked "What's its name?" For some reason, the answer sent a shiver down his spine._

" _Amegakure – the village hidden in the rain"_

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto just gazed at the rainy plains in front of him. The sky was grey, with not an ounce of sunlight in sight. The air had a scent of blood to it, with even some of the grass being red. All in all, a very depressing picture.

Turning to Obscuro, the board read "I have checked the vicinity. There is no trap or anomaly up ahead. You may proceed forward."

Naruto gave the board an unsure stare "Just like that? Forward?"

"Yes, forward. At least until you arrive at some sort of shelter." Sighing in resignation, Naruto leapt into the rain.

As Naruto dashed through the rain, he noticed that the landscape pretty much stayed constant no matter where he looked. The occasional hill or boulder maybe, but still a lot of grasslands.

He kept running for what seemed like half an hour, trying to ignore the fact that he was getting soggier by the minute, when he came across a large, pointed boulder. The boulder was pointed diagonally so there was a small space beneath it. A small, **dry,** space.

Within a second, Naruto dashed into the space. Hands on his knees, he panted in exhaustion.

' _This is getting ridiculous. I'm running in the rain here with no end in sight and I have no idea where exactly am I going!"_ he thought in exasperation. Turning his head, he saw no sign of the shadow-demon or his board.

"Figures" he muttered "I really need to get binoculars or learn some detection jutsu."

Naruto slumped down and gazed upon the rainy plains, trying to find some sign of life. Some minutes later (He didn't really know, the sun was nowhere to be seen), the rain lessened.

Seeing the horizon become clearer, Naruto got up and dashed forward. Despite his misgivings about the situation, Obscuro gave him the only (as of now) reasonable instruction: forward.

After a while of running, he saw a grove of small trees and a river. Stopping by the river, he saw that it ran into the grove. Entering the grove, he followed it until he came to a shocking site.

It was a ruined village. Wooden houses were strewn all over the place, broken and charred. The roofs were split open or caved in. The nearby trees were bereft of leaves and the branches were black with soot. As he walked between the houses, he saw to his horror the odd skeletal hand or corpse sticking out of the mud.

As he tried to regain his bearings, Naruto recalled what Obscuro had mentioned earlier. _'This country is a border country, so there must be a lot of fighting around.'_

He then saw a house that was relatively intact. The walls and door were splintered, but the roof seemed whole and the structure didn't look very charred. Shrugging, he entered.

The inside was mostly bare. There was a small table and three chairs, two of them broken. The ceiling was dripping in a few places, but held on against the rain. Turning, he saw a dirty futon lying on the ground, with bit chewed off presumably by rats. He didn't complain. He had slept in worse.

Naruto sat down on the futon and called "Hey, I found shelter! Can you come out now?"

The board popped out of the shadows in an instant. The blond just sent it an angry glare. "Did you know this place was here?"

The shadow-demon wrote back "What makes you say that?" As Naruto was about to shoot a remark, Obscuro kept writing "Regardless, even if I did know this place was here, I did not expect it to be in this state."

That last statement made Naruto frown as he recalled the remains of the dead that he found amongst the ruins. "What now?"

"You shall stay here and rest for an hour or two. Use that time for whatever you wish, just don't leave this shack. I shall go scout ahead." Naruto nodded, but then he realized something. Obscuro was way faster than him so…"Why couldn't you have scouted for this place earlier?" But the board (and Obscuro subsequently) were gone.

He huffed in annoyance "go ahead. Leave me in the abandoned scary village. Sure." Looking around and seeing nothing interesting, he unsealed his notebook. As he was skimming through its contents, the decrepit surroundings made him think back on his life.

 _'I wonder what would have happened to had Obscuro not taken me in. Would I still be sleeping on the streets? Would I have been found by the Hokage? Would I even be still alive? What with the villagers trying to kill me every chance they get, probably not. Kyuubi or no, they would have eventually got me'_ Naruto begrudgingly thought _'But maybe I could have thought of something. I taught myself how to read and write, and I managed to evade the ninja most of time. Would I have been able to get out of the village? I don't know. It's not that I'm ungrateful but…'_

Despite the fact that the shadow-demon has done much for him, Naruto still didn't completely trust Obscuro. His reasoning for this had three points: First, the paranoia from his village-dwelling days still lingered. It wasn't that he was afraid that Obscuro might kill him, but rather the fact that he is maybe being used for something unsettled him. Second, which is tied to the first, the reason for saving him was too simplistic. _'I looked "interesting"? I get the fact that he's never seen a jinchuuriki before, but this is beyond a simple curiosity. This is just reinforcing the idea that he_ (Naruto was told of the shadow-demon's lack of gender, but preferred calling it a "he") _is using me for something. But what on earth could it be for?'_ Finally, despite his denial of this, a small part of the blonde didn't want to get attached. If Obscuro was using him for something, he didn't want to blindly follow his instructions. He had read how loyalty can negatively affect a person, and he was far too fond of his own life to willingly throw it away. _'I have survived this long in my life. I'm not about to throw it away just because I was told to by my…by my…what exactly?'_ This prompted the next question in Naruto's mind: what was Obscuro to him?

Due to the lack of experience in being properly raised, Naruto was not sure how to define Obscuro's relationship to him. He couldn't really call him a father, as he seemed too distant to be one. Nor could he really call him an uncle or any blood-relative in fact. The aforementioned factors prevented the blond from forming a familial bond with the demon. ' _A teacher maybe? But he's given me a home and fed me for more than a year. That's not something a teacher would do.'_ Eventually Naruto shrugged. He realized he was worrying too much on what _might_ happen instead of what _is_ happening. Up until now his…guardian…had helped him in so many ways, so he wasn't about to just spit in his face.

With his worries temporarily put aside, he kept reviewing his notes. After a while, he dozed off.

Naruto was awoken by the familiar sensation of a pebble pelting his forehead. Rubbing his eyes, he got up from the futon to see the board floating in front of him, with the message "I have scouted ahead and made several decisions. We shall keep moving west (straight) towards Ishigakure, a small ninja village. We will not go there, but rather to the border between there and Rain Country."

"What do you expect to find there?" Naruto asked.

"If my memory serves me right and no major events have caused the land to change, there should be an old ritual site hidden there."

Unfamiliar with the term, Naruto inquired. Obscuro wrote "Make sure to write this down. This will have some importance."

Nodding, Naruto pulled a pencil out and began writing. "A **ritual site** or **aether hotspot** is an area where rituals tend to work better. The aether that flows within the world is generally even, but there are some spots where the aether is closer to the land, and thus is more easily accessible for performing rituals. Repeated usage of rituals in any specific area will cause the aether to be "pulled" closer to the surface, so it is possible to create a hotspot artificially."

Taking notice of the last sentence, Naruto recalled something. Obscuro once asked him to perform the **Wood Growth Ritual** within the forest, but he had found it harder to pull aether unlike when he was in the house's area. "The house. You made the house an aether hotspot."

"Correct. I have frequented that area quite often, enough to saturate my essence in it. Along with the fact that I performed various large rituals there, including the defence system around the house, I have managed to make into a rather decent hotspot if I say so myself."

Processing this information, Naruto finished writing and resealed his utilities. "There is shelter further down our path. You should reach it by dusk."

Naruto hummed before suddenly asking "Why can't you just take me there?"

Obscuro simply replied "I want you to learn how to do things yourself. I will not always be around. I'm a lot of things, but omnipresent is not one of them." Soundlessly, the board vanished.

Begrudgingly accepting those words, Naruto headed out of the village.

The rain kept going, but it retained its lightness. Thanks to that, Naruto covered more ground than he had expected. As he kept running, he noticed that signs of conflict began to appear more and more.

A body here. Broken or rusty weapons there. Charred or bloodstained grass. Even a destroyed bunker peeked out of a hillside.

Despite the fact that it was rainy and cloudy, Naruto could see hints of the passing day. The sky grew dimmer with each passing hour, but he stayed his path.

Sure enough, he eventually arrived at a desolate hut just as the sky grew dark. Thankfully, the roof was intact.

The interior of the hut was much like the house at the village, but with no futon. He did however, notice some hay piled up in the corner. After checking if it was dry, Naruto plopped down and unsealed some food and a blanket.

As he began to eat, he saw Obscuro's board pop out of the corner with the message "Make a fire after eating. All that rain could prove detrimental in the future. Don't worry, I won't let it burn this hut."

Grabbing some of the hay and pulling out a matchbox, Naruto lit a small fire in the center of the room. After seeing the shadows gather around it, he pulled the blanket over him and fell fast asleep.

The next morning, Naruto woke up on his own. The rain was constant, even through the night. After rubbing his eyes and stretching, he saw that the fire went out.

Getting up and eating a small snack, Naruto headed back out. He kept running for two hours until he saw a large mass in the horizon. He squinted his eyes, and saw that as he was getting closer, the mass took the form of very tall buildings. ' _That must be Amegakure'_

He was about to keep going but was suddenly yanked backwards by a shadowy tendril. The blond got up from the muddy ground and asked "What's the big idea!?"

A black dome suddenly rose above him, and in its center was the board with one word: "DANGER!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Danger? Obscuro erased the word and wrote "I have detected a massive amount of chakra surrounding this village. It was all one chakra, meaning it belonged to one source. If you had continued, the chakra would have felt the disturbance and I would not like to know what will happen."

Paling at the nasty revelation, Naruto asked in a shaky voice "W-what do m-m-mean surround-d-ing the village?"

"The rain. The rain that surrounds the village is infused with chakra, all coming from one source. A human source."

Shaken by that statement, Naruto said "I have got to find some way to detect that."

"Understandable. I have a few ideas. But for now, I shall provide cover for you. Go around the village. Do NOT enter it."

Nodding, the blond felt the shadowy form of Obscuro cloaking him before the dome receded. Feeling the cloak tugging a bit left, Naruto turned in that direction and ran as fast as he could.

As he ran, he felt the rain hitting the cloak but not getting him wet. Taking advantage of the cloak, Naruto used the shadows from the clouds to give himself a little more speed.

After an hour, they managed to reach the other side of the village. Naruto didn't take his cloak off, but he did stop and took a closer look at the metallic mass that was Amegakure.

Unlike Konoha, Ame seemed heavily industrialized. Its buildings were entirely made out of steel, towering over the land. A large moat encircled it, filled with water and possibly traps. In the center of the village, a large steel spire stood taller than any building that Naruto had ever seen. The spire sent shivers down the young jinchuuriki's spine as he stared it. It was as though a powerful, foreboding presence was residing in that tower, watching over the village.

Reminding himself that Obscuro did mention that the chakra came from a human source, Naruto wondered what kind of person could exude that much power.

Not wanting to find out, Naruto dashed forward, the steel village slowly shrinking behind him until it became a hazy mass once more.

Soon, he came across a small settlement. Unlike what he had seen previously, this one was inhabited. The main street was flanked by market booths and customers, with steel bunker-like houses standing behind them (all of course, equipped for rain). People were going around, buying or just walking from place to place. What was strange though was the atmosphere that engulfed the town. He could see it on nearly half the people there – an air of oppression hung over the town.

Sticking to the shadows, Naruto skilfully weaved his way through the masses, avoiding being seen. He passed by an alley and was about to continue when he heard a yell of pain.

His curiosity nagging at him, Naruto looked inside the alley. Two large men stood there with their faces to the wall. One had brown, spiky hair and the other and short black hair. They both wore blue coats with large grey belts, grey armguards, black shinobi sandals and white scarves. Their most striking features were the metal headband they wore on their foreheads and the respirator-like masks the black-haired one wore on the lower half of his face.

They both stood, looking down at the form of a little girl. She wore a light, purple-colored kimono shirt, grey pants and sandals. Her purple hair was arranged in an onion-like bun style, with her bangs covering her forehead. Her light-green eyes had a spark of fear in them, but mostly defiance as she stared back at the two men, clutching in her arms what was presumably some food.

"You thought it was smart to steal from us kid?" the brown-haired one asked with a sneer. "We are Hanzo's men! Mere thieves cannot escape us!"

The girl shot back "Hanzo is dead! Why don't you learn that!?"

The black-haired one answered in soft, eerie voice "It does not matter. His vision lives on, and Ame shall embody it. No 'angel' or 'god' is going to stop it."

The brown-haired one asked his partner "Oi Nagi, can I teach this brat a lesson? Maybe have some fun with her?"

Nagi just sighed. "Ringo, must you be so vile? But I suppose you are right. We can't have any riff-raff making us look weak. Don't damage her too much though, I hate seeing people suffer."

Ringo just chuckled nastily and took a step closer to the girl, who scampered against the wall.

After hearing that last exchange, Naruto narrowed his eyes. He may not be the kind of guy who would risk his life for a stranger, but he knew what the brown-haired guy – Ringo – meant by "fun". He had seen once a group of men walking out of a similar alley in Konoha's red-light district saying stuff like "she was fun", and when he looked in there, the woman's battered body and look of sheer despair haunted him.

Now Naruto knew that the same situation could happen to girl in front of him. _'Not on my watch'_ he thought.

He pulled out his two Kris and leapt towards Ringo, cloak still on. He stabbed the man in the side and in the head, moving the daggers around for good measure. Letting out a muffled cry, Ringo fell dead.

Nagi heard the muffled cries of his partner and turned. What he saw completely confused and frightened him. It was a small form, covered in swirling black smoke, holding two wavy daggers. Pulling out a kunai he cried "W-what are you!?" But before he could blink, pain erupted in his stomach and throat. Attempting to focus, he saw two red-tinged blue eyes staring him down, as though looking into the depths of his soul.

Naruto had just stabbed Nagi in the neck and stomach before staring into his eyes. The man's eye widened in horror before whispering in a choked voice "D-d-demon…" Gritting his teeth at the memories of hurt those words arose, he whispered back "True demons are scum like you."

Dragging the dagger across the man's neck, Nagi fell down. Although the sight of the dead body made his nose scrunch up, he had grown used to seeing gore thanks to Obscuro's training and the incident with the attackers a year ago.

Turning his head, he saw the girl staring at him with a look of fright on her face. Looking down at his hands and realizing that this look is scaring her. Mentally asking Obscuro for assistance, the blond felt as the cloak slipped from his body. ' _Must be a sign that the massive chakra doesn't reach here.'_

The girl now had a surprised look instead of a frightened one. Sheathing his daggers, he asked her in what he assumed was a soft tone "Are you OK?"

That must've been a soft tone, because the girl blinked and stood up clutching her food. "Y-yes."

The two just stared at each other for a while. Then, it began raining harder than the last two days. Grimacing, he looked around for shelter.

Suddenly, the girl grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the street.

Surprised at this sudden action, Naruto asked "Hey, what are you doing!?" But either the girl didn't hear him or chose not to, because he found himself being dragged into another alley, facing a broken door. Pushing the door aside, the girl pulled him in.

The room he was pulled into was again, bare. With a single bulb illuminating it, the room had a sleeping bag, a tatami mat, a small table and a chair. **(Heh, rhyme!)**

After she closed the door, he sat down on the floor and she on the futon, and continued staring at each other. After a minute of doing so, Naruto said "Um…nice place."

One thing to know about our young Uzumaki was the fact that despite his lessons with Yugao, he was rather socially inept. As such, holding a conversation with another human was rather awkward for him.

The girl blinked and replied with a question "You aren't from Ame are you? You don't look like anyone around here."

Agreeing that blond hair was a bit out of place here, where dull colors were more common, he nodded. Noting that they didn't know each other, he introduced himself. "I'm Naruto"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Fishcake?"

This caused his eyebrow to twitch. Ever since finding out that little titbit, he was annoyed that his parents, whoever they may be, named him like that. Not that he would give it up of course. "It's 'maelstrom'" he muttered.

The girl said nothing for a few seconds, before speaking "Ajisai. I'm Ajisai."

Naruto tilted his head "What kind of a name is that?" "What kind of a name is fishcake?"

Conceding, Naruto just shrugged. "I'm not from Ame, I'm just…traveling." If she heard his hesitation, she didn't show it. Her stoic face remained unchanged.

Feeling the blood on his shirt, Naruto asked her "What happened back there? Who's Hanzo?"

Ajisai frowned "They were the men of the one who's controlling this town. They went bossing people and took stuff from the market. I just stole something they stole.

Hanzo was the tyrant who ruled this country. A civil war broke out a few years ago and he died recently. Some of his men are still alive though. They say an angel and her god came down and punished him and are now freeing the country."

' _Must be the massive chakra'_ Naruto thought "What now?"

"The other men are going to find the bodies. They will probably search the whole town till they find the killer."

Naruto thought that he should leave immediately. But two things deterred him: The heavy rain outside that will wear him down, and for some reason, the fear that they might find out about Ajisai. He didn't save her just so she could be caught again.

Knowing he was asking an obvious question, he asked her "Your parents are dead, right?" It made sense with her living space.

"Can I stay here just for a day? I will leave tomorrow morning and I have some food with me if you want" Seeing her straighten up at the mention of food, he pulled out a scroll and unsealed some jerky.

Handing it over to her, he watched her with some amusement and familiarity as she quickly scarfed it all up. Unsealing some apples, he handed one to her as he began eating as well.

After finishing their meals, Naruto put back his scrolls before he came to a realization. ' _I killed those two men not long ago, so there's still time before this gets out. I need to leave immediately!'_ Again, though, the thought of leaving Ajisai here disturbed him. Knowing this might slow him down, Naruto asked "Do you want to come with me?"

She gave him a shocked look. "Those men might find you and link you to the murders. I don't want that thing weighing on me. Besides, what do you have keeping you here?"

Unable to reply, Ajisai just sat there with her mouth open. After a few seconds she closed it and replied "Yes. I'll go with you. I don't have anything here anyways."

' _That's what I just said'_ Naruto thought as he saw her pulling up a loose board under her futon and pulling out a few kunais. Stuffing them in her pant pockets, she said "I'm ready."

Nodding, Naruto went over to the sleeping bag and sealed it into a scroll. When he turned around, he noticed that Ajisai had an intrigued look on her face. Making a note of that, he went to the door.

Just as they were about to head out, Naruto asked her "Do you know any shelters in a direction which is not headed towards Ame?"

"There is a small forest a several hours hike from here" she replied "But we're going to run, so it might take less time."

Nodding, they both headed out into the rainy main street. Just as he predicted, there was no commotion outside. They dashed out of the alley and ran out of the town. Once they were a good distance away, Naruto gestured at his back and said "Climb on. We need to go fast and you're not fast enough."

Ajisai climbed onto his back while wrapping her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. ' _She's light'_ he thought. Making sure she was secure, Naruto dashed.

After a few hours of running through the rain, with stops to breathe at the occasional tree or so, the two children arrived at the forest Ajisai mentioned. Entering it, he ran through the trees until he came across a small cave.

Naruto dropped the girl, and entered the cave. After making sure there were no animals there, he motioned for her to enter it. Both of them lay down on the ground, panting with exhaustion.

Unsealing the sleeping bag and the blanket, Naruto lay it out on the ground. "You can have the bag, I'll sleep on the ground."

Ajisai shook her head. "You saved me, so you should have it." Naruto was about to counter when a cold breeze blew into the cave. Shivering, he was about to relent when he noticed her shivering too, even more so since she wore simpler clothing than him.

Remembering something he read, he suggested "You know we could share body heat." That statement caused Ajisai to frown at him.

"I believe it is improper for a girl to sleep with a boy" Naruto furrowed his brow at this, but he wasn't going to press her further. Give the day's happenings it did make sense. Shrugging, he pulled out a book and began to read.

Ajisai must have been curious, because she then asked "What are you reading?" Looking at her curious expression, Naruto replied.

"It's called _Inferno._ It's about demons." Naruto was about to keep reading when a thought came up. "You can read?"

Seeing her nod, he tossed the girl a book in Japanese. "It's a collection of old fairy tales. It's fun." He then settled back to reading.

After a while, the sky grew dark. Naruto closed the book and yawned. Heading to the blanket, he covered himself and fell asleep.

Ajisai soon followed his example and entered the sleeping bag. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. She looked over to Naruto and saw him peacefully sleeping away, completely unaware of her annoyance and suddenly recalled his offer. Scoffing, she would not resort this; sleeping with a man, especially after today's events.

But the offer still echoed in her mind, also Naruto looked really warm…

With much trepidation, she got up from her sleeping back and went to Naruto's side. His peaceful expression caused her to soften for a moment, but then she shook her head. She lifted the side of his blanket and lay down by his side. Naruto reached out and subconsciously hugged the new source of heat, desperately trying to ignore the cold.

Ajisai was startled as Naruto hugged her, and was about to push him back when she saw his sleepy expression and relaxed. She wouldn't admit it but the feeling of Naruto hugging made her feel warm and protected. Resigning to the fact that she caused this, she soon fell fast asleep.

 **-Obscuro-**

 **Ta-da! No, she isn't an OC, Ajisai is very much a real Naruto character! Look her up in the Naruto Wiki to find out. To those who recognize it, I used a tiny fragment from Digitize27's story "Yellow and Red Makes" at the end, adjusting it so it won't be a copy-paste. (Remarkable NaruTayuya story)**

 **Read and Review. Review. REEEEEEEEEEEVVIIEEEEEWWWWWW!**


	9. Chapter 8 - Rain Country Part 2

**Chapter 8 – Rain Country Part 2**

I own nothing except my OCs

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto was used to strangeness and surprises. After living a year with Obscuro, he had become rather accustomed to unexplained occurrences happening around him. Combined with his training and harsh life, it was very hard to catch him off-guard. But he would never forget the sight of Ajisai sleeping with him in his blanket, with a small smile on her face.

Her hair had a pleasant smell to it, some type of flower but he wasn't sure as to which. Her head was snuggled into his chest, and one arm was wrapped around him. To add to the surprise, when he took a peek outside, he saw that the rain stopped. It was still a bit cloudy, but the only falling drops that he saw were the ones dripping from the cave's entrance.

To top it all off, Naruto felt warm. Back when he lived in the village and in the streets, the most warmth he got when sleeping was the occasional mouldy rug, if at all. When he moved in with Obscuro, he got a warm bed, but during the chilly winter nights it was next to impossible to block out the drafts which seeped through the cracks. But now, he had never felt warmer in his life.

Not wanting to lose this warmth, he tried to settle back. However, he must have moved a leg because the purple-haired girl shook a bit and blinked her eyes open.

They both stared at each other for a minute or so, the atmosphere slowly becoming more awkward by the second, until Naruto asked "So, how well did you sleep?"

A tinge of red appeared on Ajisai's cheeks as she looked away. _'At least she didn't hit me or something.'_

He quickly got up to dispel the tension. "The rain has stopped. We can cover more ground if we leave now, so pack your things." She nodded and went to her sleeping bag. He turned to the mouth of the cave to see a shadowy claw motioning him to come out. Anticipating such an event, the blond mentally prepared himself as he called out to the girl "I'm taking a leak so wait here!"

Exiting the cave, he took a moment to admire the view. The forest around him glittered with water left over from last night. The sun's rays that managed to shine down brightened the leaves and gave a tranquil feeling to the air around him. However, he was soon pulled to the side as the familiar board popped up.

"Rather bold decision you made."

"I know, it was a spur of the moment thing, but I couldn't just leave her there," he whispered.

"Why?"

"Why? Because the ninja would've found her and maybe killed! I didn't save her life just so she could be captured again."

"This is unlike you. You usually don't care about people."

"I usually don't, but…she feels…different alright? She doesn't look like a whiny brat, she can help me."

The board remained blank and Naruto sighed. He looked at the board and said in a slightly pleading tone: "Look, I know you don't like humans, but it doesn't mean you have to hate each individual one. Just…just give her a chance, alright?"

Ignoring the hypocrisy of that statement, Obscuro pondered the merits of this unexpected situation. While it did abhor humans as a whole, it knew that there were some humans that were more open-minded than the rest, case in point being the boy in front of it. When they had slain the human filth back in the town, the girl had looked at their fused form with an expression not akin to fear, but rather akin to surprise and relief. Also, it would do well for the boy to have some nonprofessional human interaction.

"This will slow us down."

"I already told her that we can cover more ground today. She didn't complain at all."

"How will you inform her about me or your little 'situation'?"

This question caused Naruto to pause, as it did have some considerable thought to it. He didn't think that going up to her and saying "Hi, when I saved your life, I did it with the help of a demon who's been raising me for a year and I've got another one sealed inside me" was not the correct course of action. Unable to formulate an immediate answer, he made a decision.

"Give me some time to think about it, but I promise you that by the time we arrive back at the Forest House I will tell her about you."

After mentally reviewing that answer, Obscuro decided that this was probably the best course of action. A little more time getting used to the boy will definitely make her trust in him grow enough to listen to reasonable statements.

"Agreed." The blond was then handed a small compass, which he mentally concluded was pilfered from the town. "Head west until you reach a large ravine. I shall then guide you from there." With those words, the board vanished.

Naruto re-entered the cave to see Ajisai waiting for him with a calm expression.

"Did you take everything with you?" She simply handed him the sleeping bag. Remembering how he took it last time, Naruto mentally slapped his forehead and sealed the bag in a scroll. "Thanks, let's go." Without another word he headed out of the cave, with Ajisai following him close behind.

Taking full advantage of the clear day, Naruto attempted to cover as much ground as he could allow himself with his new companion. The landscape remained the same pretty much as they travelled, with only more boulders appearing on their self-made path. Every few minutes he would turn his head to check on her, only to see her holding up fine. Naruto concluded she must've had some basic ninja training before, or she's just naturally resilient.

After a few hours of running, they stopped at a boulder field to take a rest. Naruto leaned against a rock for a breather when he saw a rabbit jumping by. Taking note of his (and presumably Ajisai's) hunger, he quickly drew his Kris to lunge and stab the rabbit.

He turned to his purple-haired companion "I've caught us some food here, do you wanna eat?" Seeing her nod, he went atop a large boulder to prepare the rabbit and light a fire. After half an hour of preparing, the food was ready.

Ajisai climbed onto the rock and took a leg of meat while he took another leg. As they were eating, Naruto decided that in order for the girl to handle the news about his guardian shadow-demon, he should make an effort to get to know her.

"So, did you like the book?" She looked at him for a moment, as though she didn't expect him to talk much but then answered.

"It was rather enjoyable, thank you for that. Do you have any more?" Naruto smiled at the memory of his beloved books.

"Yeah, I've got a whole library back home filled with all kinds of books. Fiction, history, poems…I love 'em all."

A tiny smile crept onto her face. "That sounds very nice. Books are a wonderful thing. I'm glad that there's someone who truly appreciates them."

Naruto noticed that her eyes looked zoned out, as though recalling something from the past. Taking a cautious step forward (figuratively), he asked "Did you read a lot in the past?"

She snapped out of her daze and gave him a cautious look. "Y-yes, there was a library near where I lived; I would go there all the time."

Ajisai then decided to ask her questions. "You said you aren't from Ame. Where are you from?"

"Konohagakure – the village hidden in the leaves"

Letting out a small 'oh', she continued. "Are you a ninja?"

"No," he said in an angry voice. He knew he shouldn't do that to the girl but his anger at ninjas, especially the ones from his village made him unconsciously react. Seeing the startled look on the purplenette's face, he quickly assured her, "I'm sorry it's just that I don't like ninja, at least the ones from Konoha. That doesn't mean I hate you."

She looked at him with a confused glance. "The fact that you were able to keep up with me means that you have ninja training. Don't worry I'm not angry with you."

Ajisai calmed down at those words. Seeing Naruto do a 'go on' gesture, she continued to ask. "If you're not a ninja, what are you?" Naruto hummed in thought to this. He knew what term he could be categorized under; although he wasn't sure that he qualified, being only an apprentice and the first real one in many, many years. Eventually he answered.

"I am a…ritualist."

"A ritualist? What's that?"

"It's someone who practices rituals and gathers knowledge. Remember my scrolls? Think of it as an older version of that."

Still looking confused, he decided to simply show it to her. Reaching for his scrolls, he unsealed from one of them a pencil, his notebook and some chalk. He then drew two squares, one angled from the other so that they formed an eight-pointed star, inside a circle. Snapping the pencil in half, he placed both halves in the circle.

The blond pressed his hands to the circle's edge and channelled life-force into it. Almost immediately, the circle glowed in an electrical bluish-white hue. After a few seconds, the glow subsided, and the pencil was back in one piece, as though it had never been snapped.

As Ajisai quickly snatched and examined the writing tool, Naruto erased the circle and said "That was called the Reconstruction Ritual. With it, I can fix any broken object as long as I have all of its parts inside the circle."

She handed the pencil back to him and stared at where the circle was drawn. "That wasn't chakra was it?"

Letting out a small noise of surprise, Naruto was startled by how fast she managed to figure it out. "About what you said earlier, I'm not really a ninja. Like you, I received ninja training, so I know chakra when I see it, and that's not chakra. So what is it?"

While he knew that he should gain her trust, Naruto was afraid of letting out that much information. "That's a secret."

Slightly pouting (causing Naruto to blush at her face), Ajisai nonetheless relented. Seeing that the rabbit was nothing but bone now, Naruto resealed his items. "We should get going."

Getting up from the rock and erasing traces of the fire, the duo kept heading west. As they ran through the fields, the two children occasionally exchanged words with each other. These little chats led Naruto to deduce that Ajisai was a rather stoic and serious person, although she was easier to approach once you talked to her a little.

As time passed, the landscape shifted to a more rocky terrain. After a couple of hours (it was still afternoon), they stopped at the location that Obscuro had mentioned beforehand.

The ravine was rather large, although calling it a small canyon would be more accurate. A river was flowing at the bottom, which was a bit more than 50 meters below the duo. Lush greenery covered the rocky cliffsides and several birds could be heard chirping. All in all, it was a rather beautiful scene.

Both children stood to admire the beauty for a few minutes. Ajisai then seemed to recognize something as she turned to Naruto and asked, "Shouldn't Konoha be in the opposite direction?"

"Yeah," the blond replied. "But there's someplace here that I need to check out first."

"What kind of place?"

"It's a ritual site," Naruto said as he carefully constructed a little fib to throw her off for now. "I read a few maps and books and managed to find that it's somewhere here."

The young Uzumaki then looked over the ravine, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. When he turned to his right, he saw a thin trail of shadows leading down to the large rocks. Motioning Ajisai to follow him, he went after the trail.

They jumped down a boulder or two and saw a series of stone steps in front of them. Following the steps, they soon reached a large triangle of boulders.

Still seeing the shadow-trail lead into the rocks, Naruto concluded that one of them must be a hidden entrance. He trailed his hands over the rock looking for a lever or a switch until he felt a bump. Rubbing that spot, he saw a small ritual circle.

Without any second thought, he pressed his fingers to it and channelled some life-force. Unlike the ritual he had performed beforehand, the circle merely flashed for an instant. Then, a rumbling sound was heard. He quickly removed his fingers as the central boulder dug itself into the ground, revealing a dark passageway.

"We've found it. Come on, let's go in." He made to enter when Ajisai asked, "What do you expect to find there?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but no answer seemed to come to him. _'He never told me what's in there,'_ he thought with some irritation. Sighing, he answered the girl truthfully. "I don't know."

She looked at him incredulously. "You're just gonna go in there with no idea of what's inside?"

"I didn't come all the way here just to back out now. Besides, I can defend myself should something happen." With those words, he entered the dark corridor, with an exasperated Ajisai behind him.

The corridor seemed rather long, taking them deep into the rock. The walls occasionally felt wet from the water that seeped from above. Naruto slowly crept forward, feeling the walls so that he wouldn't slip.

"Did you forget to light a match?" Ajisai asked in a slightly amused tone. He just grumbled in irritation.

With the light from the entrance slowly fading, Naruto knew that something else had to be close by. Several minutes passed walking in silence until they reach a small chamber. Small rays of light from above illuminated it faintly. In the dim light, Naruto saw a large set of doors, with unlit torches flanking its sides. Wanting to shed more light on the situation **(hah!),** Naruto unsealed his matchbox, using the dim sunlight as guidance. Grabbing a torch from the walls, he asked his companion to hold it. A few seconds later, the torch's light illuminated the rest of the chamber. Apart from the door, it had no unusual features. Lighting the other torch for her, the duo opened the doors.

 **(Play Misanthropik – A Dark Ritual in Heaven and Organ 100 – Witch's Sorrow)**

They found themselves in another, much larger chamber. A single ray of light shone through a hole in the ceiling. A ring of torches was seen around the walls of the chamber. Strange markings decorated the walls, undiscernible in the dimly lit room. Similar markings adorned the floor, with a large stone altar in the center. At the far side of the chamber, a large culvert was seen, but any contents it may possess were too far to see.

Taking a breath and stepping forward, Naruto nearly dropped his torch when suddenly the ring of torches lit up the whole chamber. Thanks to the added light, the markings of the floor was shown to be those of a ritual circle; an equal-sided cross atop a many-pointed star, with faded inscriptions ringing it and the altar at the center. Splotches of blood were scattered across the walls and floor. Gazing to the walls, he saw that the 'strange markings' were actually carvings – a stone mural decorating the room.

The mural depicted many things; humans fighting amongst each other in a sea of blood and swords, demons and dark spirits roaming the land, winged beings flying around and slaying many, depictions of horrible rituals performed to summon beings, both fair and twisted. But the carvings above the far culvert drew the young jinchuuriki's attention the most.

Ignoring Ajisai's gasp of fright, he gazed upon the image of a large tree. Its limbs and roots were twisted upwards, and what seemed like a beam of light shone from its center upwards. Opposite the tree was a large structure that seemed to be its literal opposite. If the tree symbolized light, then this certainly symbolized darkness. It was shaped like a tower of sorts, with twisted markings adorning it and a crown of spikes, all holding a black sphere in an invisible grasp.

In between those two was a strange pattern, seemingly made up of two pillars flanking a larger one, with three circles on each of the former and four circles aligned on the central pillar. The circles were all connected by lines, and the pattern itself was surrounded by a black and white halo.

Naruto was snapped out of any musings he may have had when he felt Ajisai tug at his sleeve. Hearing her shivering gasps, he saw her pointing to a black-robed skeleton lying against the left wall. Squeezing her shoulder in assurance, he went to inspect it. After searching its mouldy robes, he found a rusty knife (useless), some silver coins (nice) and a small amulet, with a unicursal hexagram surrounding a small ruby. Pocketing the coins and amulet, he tuned to the frightened girl.

"It's safe, don't worry," he reassured her. "There's nothing harmful here. But try not to cut yourself as long as we're here okay?" She nodded, the fright seemingly leaving her.

"I was just concerned," she said. "This place feels…weird." She gestured to the murals. "All of this doesn't exactly help the mood."

A bit confused at her first statement, Naruto blocked out anything she may have said and focused on the room.

He felt what she meant. This place has definitely seen plenty of use in the past. The aether here practically flooded the place. But unlike back at the house, the aether here seemed…tainted, as though something had gone wrong with whatever that happened here. Judging by the blood on the walls and the permanent resident here, it seemed very likely.

He was brought back to reality when the purplenette shook him. Seeing her light-green eyes ask a silent, yet understood question. "It's nothing. Just let me take a look there," he pointed at the culvert, "and we can leave." Nodding, Ajisai let go of the blond.

He went and looked inside the culvert. The hexagram he saw on the amulet appeared there as well. In the base of the culvert, he saw a small wooden box. Picking it up, he tried to open the lid but it remained shut, even though it had no visible lock. Turning the box around in his torch-free hand, he saw a faded circle inscribed on the side.

Pressing his thumb and channelling life-force, Naruto saw as the lid snapped open to reveal a journal and a corked vial, with a wooden fragment inside of it. Deciding to have a better look back home, Naruto closed the box, asked Ajisai to hold his torch and sealed it into a scroll with his notebook.

"Come on, let's head back." Handing the torch to him, the girl followed the blond as they headed out of the chamber and back outside. The sun was setting, so Naruto knew that they needed to either find shelter or… to take a leap of faith. Naruto knew that this wasn't exactly a good way for her to trust him, but he didn't want to remain in this country very longer. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Ajisai.

"Can you trust me?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It'll take us another two days or so to get back to Fire Country's border if we run and sleep. There's a high chance we might encounter those men again or bandits if we do so though. I have another way that'll take much less time, but if you want to go for it, you need to trust me a little, and I know that's asking a lot from you. Believe me, I know the feeling."

"So, are you willing to trust me?" he asked, stretching his hand out for her.

Ajisai was a bit surprised that he had asked her to trust him out of the blue, but he raised a good point. She had a feeling that even with Naruto alongside her too many things could go wrong. Also, thanks to the time that she had spent with the blue-eyed boy she managed to discern that he did keep his promises. He had not abandoned her in the woods after all, and he didn't seem like the kind of guy to just suddenly betray her. So she decided to take a leap of faith of her own.

She grasped Naruto's outstretched hand and said in a calm voice: "I trust you. You haven't given me a reason not to yet."

Cracking a small smile, Naruto pulled her into a boulder's shadow and wrapped his arms around her.

"Alright, whatever you do, don't freak out and don't let go."

Before she could ask what he meant, he called out, "Obscuro! Can you give us a lift?"

For a few seconds nothing happened. Then suddenly, he felt himself being pulled into the familiar shadow world, with Ajisai holding onto him. Feeling her fear, he pressed her head onto his chest in reassurance. Without a word, the shadowy claws of Obscuro held them and they took off.

To Ajisai, who wasn't used to this method of traveling, it was as if the whole world grew dark and she was being hurled forward at blistering speeds. The only thing she managed to feel was Naruto's hold on her, protecting her from this…nightmare.

Due to the fact that it was getting dark, they covered much more ground in far less time when compared to the forward trip. Naruto couldn't even see the landscaping passing by anymore; just a dark and red blur rushing above him and Ajisai.

Speaking of, the girl had managed, by some unexplainable reason, to fall asleep in his arms. _'At least she won't complain about the rest of trip,'_ he thought.

Eventually, they both popped out behind the house. The sun had already set, but Naruto had no way of knowing just how late it was. Seeing that the girl was still asleep, he called to Obscuro for help. When he received no reply, he could've sworn that someone was laughing at him.

Tired and irritated, Naruto trudged into the house and up into his room, where he set Ajisai on one side of the bed. Deciding that he would take a bath tomorrow, he put the scrolls on his desk and changed into his sleeping clothes: a simple t-shirt and shorts. He lay down on the other side of the bed and tried to sleep.

Before he could do so however, he felt something shift next to him and soon enough, he found himself in Ajisai's embrace once more. Too tired to protest, the blond settled in, enjoying the warmth they now shared.

 **New chapter introducing my new beta: Metalman Mech!**

 **There are a few hidden references here (HINT: one's from a famous Visual Novel). Anyone who points out what they are will get free cookies!**

 **This chapter may feel a little bit rushed in the end, but I don't think that Naruto is ready for a confrontation (yet), and creating a repeat of the journey in reverse is a bit asinine .**

 **Go check out my other story "Mugenjin of Judgment" and vote on the poll on my profile! (Looking for a beta on that story now)**

 **Read and review. Review. REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIIIEEWWWWWWW!**


	10. Chapter 9 - Visions and Answers

**Chapter 9 – Visions and Answers**

 **I own nothing except my OCs**

 **Some excerpts here are by Peter Mohrbacher, Magic the Gathering artist.**

 **Could someone draw up some fanart for this fic? I appreciate it if you would!**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

* * *

 _White._

 _Everywhere he looked was white._

 _Actually – no. Not white. It kept shifting. Yellow, green, white, blue. Yet it was so faint, so brief, that he could barely see it._

 _He tried to move, tried to see, tried to understand, but nothing changed. All white._

 _No._

 _Not white. A void._

 _Out of the bright void, a voice called out:_

 _"Can you not see?"_

 _It was calm and serene, yet firm and fierce. It echoed around him, soft as a whisper, yet loud and booming as roar._

 _He tried to look, tried to see, tried to find…_

 _But there was white._

 _"It appears…you are not ready yet to see by your own eyes."_

 _Again. Where?_

 _"Yet…you are different. You_ _ **will**_ _see. Oh yes. Much you will see…"_

 _Silence. See? 'Will see'?_

 _"Perhaps a peek shall be thy reward…Very well"_

 _Then, it spoke a word. It echoed in his soul, made it drum, it was powerful._

 _And there was_ _ **light**_ _._

 _It cleared, he could see! He focused on the sight before him, but then he stopped._

 _In front of him stood a great Tree. Its limbs pushed forth in every direction. A mass of wood that twisted upon itself, bending and creasing in patterns that swept across its boughs with wild intent. He traced a single twisting groove with his eyes, he followed a path that dove and spun across the waves and eddies of the massive branch. It split and re-joined, crashing and shattering against a swirling ring that tangled in upon itself and tore a path around to the reverse side forcing its way upward toward the reaching tips of the branches that splayed across the starry sky above him in violent motion and held totally still. The gnarled mass stretched outwards towards the infinite expanse that surrounded it, its boundaries impossible to define._

 _He gaped. Even in its sight, he could barely comprehend it._

 _For all its size, the space in which it dwelled sought to dwarf it. Luminous clouds, pushed away in every direction and fell away behind the meridian of the horizon. Everything was equally far away, massively far away, leaving him distant from all things._

 _The earth stretched below him, carved in glimmering relief and veiled in a thin blue halo. He scanned the winding traces of water for features he recognized but the familiar places were lost amidst the enormity of the thing he beheld. Like the strange and distant rivers, he realized that even though his experiences existed as a part of the Tree, they were lost amidst the glory of the Tree's scale. He was nothing and his life had been nothing._

 _The Tree loomed over him like a sleeping giant, a fearsome beast that might wake at any given moment. He silently screamed, tried to step back, but he was drawn to it. He took a step. Then another. And another. He kept taking steps – he was so close, nearly touching the roots, when he froze. He couldn't move._

 _"Not yet. You are not ready."_

 _He turned his head to a tall figure, floating above the roots. A severe figure clad in a sweeping grey costume with a polished white dome standing in for a face. It bore large wings, unmoving, yet fluttering, yet as he focused…were those papers for feathers? It held a book under one arm._

 _"You cannot comprehend this yet can you? You are unusual. Very few manage to come here, and fewer stay sane, even from a glimpse."_

 _He tried to speak to it, yet the surprise prevented the words from coming out. In the end, he managed to ask._

 _"How do you know this?"_

 _"I know all things. For that is what I am."_

 _"Who are you?"_

 _"I am knowledge. I am –"_

 _Nothing. Not a word spoken._

 _The figure tilts its head by a fraction, as though expecting this. "You are not ready."_

 _It then pointed a finger upwards. A symbol of light carved itself through the air. A circle with two opposing spikes._

 _"Seek them out. You shall know."_

 _He went to ask more questions, but he felt as though everything was pulling away from him and he was being pulled away at once._

 _Just as everything faded, he heard it whisper._

 _"Tzeh u-lmad"_

Naruto rose up from his bed with a gasp. He frantically looked around for the tree and the winged figure, but then he remembered where he was. He was back in his house, inside his bed. He let out a calm sigh.

"Mmmph…what? What time is it?"

He now also remembered with who he was.

Looking to his side, he saw Ajisai sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Her hair was still in that onion-like bun, albeit a little frizzled. Her clothes were dirty and covered with water marks. She looked at him before widening her eyes and frantically looking around, as though an attack might happen. Naruto quickly grasped her shoulders and made her look at him.

"Hey, it's okay. We're safe now, we're in my house." She started to calm down as he kept whispering reassuring words to her. Soon enough, her eyes and breathing returned to normal.

An awkward silence hung, as both of them were unsure what to say. Before they could make an attempt though, a loud grumbling was heard.

 **GRUMBLE!**

His cheeks slightly flushing, Naruto looked down and rubbed his head in embarrassment "Heh-heh. Guess we should eat first. Are you hungry?" She nodded. With that confirmation, the two got up and headed out of the room. As they headed downstairs, Ajisai kept looking around at the paintings and walls, with a small gleam of wonder in her eye.

They reached the main hall. "Could you wait here while I get us some food? I won't be long." Again, she nodded and kept looking around as Naruto left for the kitchen. ' _She's a quiet one'_ he thought. ' _Oh well. She seems nice, if a little stoic.'_ He entered the kitchen, which was really a combination of empty sinks and unlit ovens and began preparing food, all the while thinking about that dream.

 _'What the hell was that Tree? I've never seen anything like it. It felt so weird, like it was broken, fragmented, flowing. Although, come to think of it, it looked familiar. But if so, where did I see it before?'_ He lit up a fire for the meat. _'What was that winged figure I saw? What did he mean by "You are not ready"? What did that symbol mean? I should write it down. What did he mean by 'I am knowledge'?'_ The blond clutched his head in frustration.

 _'Gah! This is too much! I have too many questions and no answers! Maybe Obscuro knows about this? Or the notebook I found in the cave? Yeah, I'll look into that'_

His mind made up, he kept preparing the meat. ' _I wonder if Ajisai likes rabbit as much as beef,'_ he thought as he took the plates to the main hall. She was still in the same place that he left her, looking at the mural on the floor with curiosity in her eyes.

"Hey, I hope you like rabbit." She looked at him and eyed the plates he was holding with a curious yet hungry gleam in her eye. Not seeing her protest, Naruto handed one to her. They sat on the couches, eating in silence; all the while our resident jinchuuriki was sneaking glances at her. Remembering the morning's events, Naruto took a deep breath. ' _Time to face the music, I guess.'_

"Are you okay?" She stopped her eating and looked at him. "I mean, from last night. It's not very pleasant for first-timers." The purple-haired girl widened her eyes as she remembered what happened yesterday.

"I-I'm fine, I guess, but what was that? It felt so dark, so cold, so…" she trailed off as her expression turned scared. Preparing himself to take a leap of faith, he responded with a question of his own.

"What do you know about demons?" She raised an eyebrow at the odd question.

"Demons? Like the ones in stories?" Naruto nodded in confirmation. She tilted her gaze upwards.

"Nothing solid, apart from the fact that the stories say that they are all evil and like to prey on humans." A little test then might work. "Do you believe those stories?"

Contemplating the question, she shook her head. "I believe what I see and have proof of. Relying solely on rumours is foolish." He agreed with her on this.

"Well, eight years ago, the leader of this village, the Fourth Hokage, sealed a power demon, called the Nine-Tailed Fox…" he gestured at his stomach "…into an infant to contain its power.

Around a year ago, that infant –now a child - met a shadow-demon called Obscuro who, when everyone else would have left him for dead, took him in, let him stay here and taught him."

Thinking on what he just said, Ajisai settled into her trademark impassive stare. What did that story have to do with anything? Of course, it only took a few moments for her to connect the pieces - the shadows that draped him and last night's experience. Her eyes widened in shock, staring at Naruto who now gazed to the ground, unwilling to meet her gaze.

"Yeah, I'm the container for the Kyuubi, and what got us out of Rain Country was Obscuro." She kept looking at him, unable to find a sign of deceit in her eyes. She sighed; at least she wasn't dead in a ditch, or lying around as those ninjas' toy.

She suddenly got up and did what Naruto had never thought anyone would do; she hugged him. Never being on the receiving end of a hug, Naruto turned a bit rigid, although he managed to hear her slightly choked whisper. "Thank you."

Ajisai knew that if he hadn't come when he did, her fate would either be death or worse than it. A hug was probably the least troubling thing she had done.

She pulled away from him and turned her head sideways so that he wouldn't see her blush. Her memories from that day focused on how he attacked those men. "Did…Obscuro…teach you how to fight like that?" The name tasted odd on her tongue. Naruto nodded in response.

"Yeah, for the first month or so, then I had one of the ninja here train me. He said it'll be better for me if another human taught me how to fight, although he can do that pretty well."

"Did he teach you those ritual things that you showed me?"

"Yeah, it's the main thing that he trained me in. The rest I picked up from my human tutor – her name's Yugao – or I just read it here in the library." Her head perked up at that last part.

"You have a library?" she asked in a calm tone, yet Naruto could tell that it had a tinge of excitement in it. The look in her eyes was very familiar to him – he sometimes saw it in the mirror when he woke up with the promise of Obscuro teaching him new stuff.

"Yeah, it's a big one. I'll show it to you later." He barely saw it, but the corner of Ajisai's lip twitched a bit.

"So, what's your story?"

Ajisai looked down, her expression hardening. She was a cautious girl, and didn't hand out her trust so easily. Yet, this boy had done more for her than anyone else in her short life. Best of all, he did it with no apparent demand for compensation. He told her about his life, so why shouldn't she tell him about hers? She took a deep breath and began telling her story.

"My mother and father were both ninjas who lived in Amegakure. When I was roughly 4, someone took their lives in an act of revenge. I was out playing when it happened, so I came home to a smoking apartment and charred bodies." Her voice began to falter as she kept recalling her memories.

"I lived on the streets for a while until a retired ninja found me, lying among the trashcans. He took me and several other orphans in, aiming to make us ninjas to support his cause of allying with Hanzo. I stayed there so I could learn as much as I could.

One day, we were training in our crumbled old building when Hanzo's forces came crashing in. Claiming our teacher and us traitors to the regime, they killed us off. Obviously, I survived. I made it out of there just before they saw me."

She was sniffing at this this point and her eyes misted over. While she wasn't necessarily close to any of the other orphans, the old ninja was the closest thing she had to an actual father at that point, with her actual father barely paying attention to her when he was alive.

"I fled the village, taking refuge in small towns like the one you met me in. While I never supported my teacher's goal, at that moment I hated Hanzo with a passion. Sometime later, I heard that he was assassinated in his home by a 'god'. A few days later, I heard that an 'angel' was killing off his forces, bit by bit. I was hoping to stay hidden until everything settled but…"

The purple-haired girl began crying as she realized her situation. She was gone from the only home she ever knew, all of her family dead, and was almost raped and killed by her own countrymen. The irony of that was just sickening.

Inwardly panicking, Naruto was at a loss at what to do. Never having dealt with this kind of predicament before, he tried thinking of a way to calm her down. He then remembered what happened this morning, just after he woke up. He went to the sobbing Ajisai, and hugged her. She leant into his touch as she kept crying, for all that she had lost, little though it may have been. After a few rounds of tears, she looked into his eyes.

"Better now?" She nodded while rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. With nothing coming to mind, they sat in silence.

Eventually, he diced to ask her something that should avoid certain future predicaments. "Ajisai-san, do you want to meet Obscuro?" She nodded.

No sooner than she did so, the shadow-demon's form materialized from the corner of the room, floating tall and intimidating, with horns, wings and all. In its hand was the small board with the word "Greetings" written on it.

"H-hello" Ajisai said in a startled tone. Plucking out a small eraser and a piece of chalk from…nowhere apparently, he wiped the board and wrote "Ajisai, correct? You are going to stay here for the foreseeable future I presume?"

Looking over to Naruto who nodded at her, she replied, "Yes, I will."

"Very well. The house is yours to explore, although I recommend that you refer to Naruto for any questions about it. One thing though, I require some of your blood." She raised an eyebrow at the odd request. Seeing the unasked question in her eyes, the shadow-demon wrote "For security measures."

Looking at Naruto who nodded again, she pulled up her sleeve to show her arm. A shadow tendril creeped from Obscuro's "body" and pierced her arm.

Wincing a bit, she watched with a small sense of fascination how her blood floated from the small hole, around the tendril and gathered into a small, red liquid-y sphere. Withdrawing the tendril and vanishing the wound (something that surprised her), Obscuro turned to leave when Naruto shouted "Hey! Why didn't you ask **me** when you took my blood!?"

The demon simply wrote back "Because she isn't annoying." Ignoring the blond's cry of indignation, the shadow-demon vanished.

"Is he always like this?" asked Ajisai.

"He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, yeah, but I think he does it just to test me or to rile me up." Naruto then got up from the couch and motioned to her "Come, I think that I should explain this in the library." She got up and followed him into the library.

Naruto let out a small smirk of amusement as he watched Ajisai's eyes dart around every corner, gazing in adoration at the multitude of books that rested upon the shelves. "It's great, right? It's my private sanctuary. Whenever I study or need to calm down, I come here."

"I'll let you read some of the books, but now I need you to pay attention." Seeing her focus on him, he said "First, try not to cut yourself or touch any paper that has a weird circle drawn on it, like the one I showed you. It may not activate, but I don't want to take any chances.

Second, if you take a book from here, make sure treat it with care, as some of these guys are really old. Also when you return it here, put it back from where you took it. I can't stand it when everything's scattered.

Third, if you go out, tell me beforehand. The forests here are dangerous to be wandering around untrained, but most of all, **don't go into the village.** " The purple-haired girl asked "Why?"

Naruto scrunched his face. "The villagers hate me because of the Kyuubi, so they try to make my life miserable. If they see you with me, they might attack you or try to follow you here."

"But if I go into the village alone, no one will have any reason to suspect that I'm with you," Ajisai pointed out. Naruto blinked in surprise, that thought had never crossed his mind. He scratched his chin at this surprising, yet somewhat embarrassing, revelation. If what she said is true, then that means getting supplies from the village will be easier with her aid. If Obscuro accompanied her, she could enter and exit the village unnoticed, away from the eyes of the ANBU that occasionally patrolled here.

He was snapped out of his musing when he heard Ajisai ask in a cautious tone "What are you thinking about?" He told her of his thoughts just know, and made sure to put an emphasis on getting new supplies. The girl seemed unfazed at his, what some might call, manipulative thoughts, but rather seemed to agree with him, as she had similar thoughts as well.

Checking that he hadn't left out anything important, the blond went to conclude his little instruction when Ajisai asked him, "Can you teach me?"

While a bit startled at the spontaneity of the request, Naruto knew that if she was going to live with him, she will need to fight in the future, so why deny her that? "Teach you what?"

"Teach me how to fight with knives. I saw that you had skill with them when we first met. Taijutsu too. I haven't really fought against anyone for a while. It wouldn't help if I got rusty."

Mentally weighing the requests, Naruto replied "While the taijutsu part I can help you with, I don't know if my knives – daggers actually – would suit you. They're for more than just hacking and slashing."

"It's fine. I already have an idea of how I want to fight. I don't need you to teach me your specific style."

"Oh? How do you want to fight?"

"That…is a secret" she smirked. Naruto just stared. "Right," he muttered.

With that topic of discussion closed for now, the blond asked, "So, what kind of book do like?"

When Obscuro returned a couple of hours later, it wasn't surprised to see the two animatedly chatting, each holding a book; on philosophy of all things. While the debate might have been interesting to hear, there were more prudent events to take care of. Tapping his chalk on the large blackboard, he got their attention.

"You have explained to her the rules of this place?" it wrote.

"Yes."

"What does she wish to do then?"

"I would like to learn about knife –"

"Dagger" Naruto coughed.

"-fighting from Naruto-san. Also, if it wouldn't trouble you Obscuro-san, could you help me get some ninja tools? I can make a list."

"I could, but if I may ask, what shall you do here to help?"

"Naruto-san and I have agreed that if you could get me to the village undetected, I could buy supplies and you could bring them here."

"I see. This is actually a good plan. It will allow us to retrieve more supplies without the risk of Naruto getting caught. I'm not surprised that he didn't think of this first ("HEY!"). Oh well, more tests then."

Naruto gulped at the mention of 'tests'. It would vary from time to time on which topic, but when Obscuro gave out a 'test', it left either his body aching like hell or his brain overheating.

"Tests? What kind?" Ajisai asked with an underlying hint of mirth in her voice.

Obscuro flicked a pebble at Naruto's fore head and wrote "Mandala pattern with 4-verse incantation. Now!"

As Naruto attempted to rack his brain for an appropriate answer, one though came to his mind in the meantime.

 _'Well, things are gonna get more interesting around here from now on…'_

 **-Obscuro-**

After a (painful) pop quiz, Ajisai had asked to practice chakra control, which the young Uzumaki joined in. After a few hours of reading books and discussions, he gave the purplenette a tour of the house and the forest outskirts. Stopping at a clearing, Naruto decided that they might as well spar so he could get a feel of her fighting style. After the spar, he said that he would come to a conclusion tomorrow.

More reading and discussions later, the two headed upstairs. As Naruto approached his room, he then realized that he had yet to give Ajisai a proper room. When he turned to address the situation to her though, she simply said, "I don't mind if we share the bed." Her reasoning?

"We already did it twice and I don't think there's another bed around."

While he knew that there was a spare bed lying around the house, Naruto was a bit hazy from the spar and the recent discussion, so he just nodded. So she went into the bathroom to wash up while Naruto waited. While she did so, Obscuro's board popped into the room.

Already surrendering to the theory that Obscuro could somehow read minds, he whispered to the shadow-demon about his dream. Not a single word appeared on the board while the blond talked. After giving his account, a piece of chalk appeared in Naruto's hand and Obscuro wrote "What did this symbol look like?"

Drawing the symbol onto the board, the shadow-demon stared at it in silence. All the while, a flurry of thoughts floated in the demon's head.

 _ **'Well, I certainly did not expect this. What is even more worrying is that symbol. For some reason, that symbol seems extremely familiar, but I don't know why, as though recalling a distant dream. Whether this bodes good or ill I do not know, but I must get to the bottom of this. There are too many unknowns as it is, and none of us need any more complications.'**_

The symbol was erased. "I shall look into this. Tell me if you have any more of these dreams." With that, Obscuro vanished.

After Ajisai got out, Naruto went in and washed himself. He soon went to bed with Ajisai taking one side and him the other. "Good night," he said.

"Good night and…thank you, again."

Smiling at the thanks, the blond settled in and soon fell asleep.

* * *

 **Hi guys! New chapter! What do you think?**

 **Check out my other story, a Harry Potter crossover called 'Mugenjin of Judgment'. It's different than anything you've seen before!**

 **Read and review. Review. REEEEEEEEEEEVVIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWW!**


	11. Chapter 10 - Now Do You See?

**Chapter 10 – Now Do You See?**

I own nothing except my OCs

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Naruto timeline isn't very clear on events, so I took liberties. If something seems out of place, you have been warned.**

 **Hi! I'm back with an extra-long chapter for you people! First off, I have to say a few things.**

 **I would like to thank all of you for reviewing and supporting me all this way. I especially want to thank Wyrtha, who has been a constant source of inspiration and support for me. Go check out his stories, they're awesome!**

 **I also wish to thank my beta MetalmanMecha, who has constantly helped me and gave me advice.**

 **Go check out my other story and challenges too! Vote on the poll on my profile!**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

 **-Obscuro-**

 _He was standing in front of the tree again. Every time it has never failed to astound him._

 _He sat on one of its rising roots, arms at his side and eyes to the sky, watching as the never-ending expanse of clouds and color shimmered and flew around him. The sun, the light, the brightness, whatever illuminated this place never seemed to dim as the clouds passed by. Stars glimmered behind the ever-rolling mass of white, dying the clouds in a deep-bluish tinge._

 _He turned his head to see that the winged figure was still reading his book. Every time he was brought here, the figure only raised its domed head in acknowledgement, before going back to his book. Compelling as it may have been, he couldn't bring himself to disturb the white being, its natural calmness and aura of wisdom deterring him from even attempting to do such a thing._

 _So he simply sat there, watching the skies or gazing up at the swirling tree in wonder. He once tried to initiate a conversation, but either the being didn't answer, or he just lost the words to continue, as though whatever he was going to say had become meaningless in its sight._

 _He sat on the root, his hands tracing the twisted patterns on the wood when he heard a soft slap coming from beside him. He turned to see, in great surprise, that the being had its book closed and has moved closer to him. Unsure what to say, he simply stared in silence. Eventually, it spoke._

 _"It is wondrous, is it not?"_

 _Still unable to get himself to speak, he simply nodded._

 _"Even one such as yourself, with the limits of your perception, can understand the marvel of this place."_

 _He nodded again, almost mechanically, confused at the being's words. It then opened its book and flipped through the pages._

 _"You already know that knowledge is power, and power comes at a price. But for the company that you have provided me with these past visits, I think a little peek shall suffice…"_

 _It stopped flipping through the book and turned it so that he could see the pages. Expecting some cryptic script or similar writings, he was surprised when he looked at two blank pages._

 _Blinking a few times to clear his sight only to see the empty papers in front of him, he made to ask the being if it had turned to the wrong page, before noticing something forming on the pages._

 _It was as though ink was seeping through them as it glided across the paper, shifting and twirling like the clouds around him. As the ink moved, he noticed that with every turn, every twist of the black liquid, an image started to appear in front of him._

 _Eventually, the ink settled and he gazed upon the rather realistic drawing that had manifested._

 _The drawing showed an old building, standing on a murky beach. The structure had a pointed roof, was flanked by two tall towers that were seemingly glued to its front sides, a large entrance and was stretched back until it split off into two opposite sections. Behind it was a conical roof that capped a smaller connected chamber, not very eye-drawing and not as tall as the towers, but still big enough to see from the front. Vines, dead trees and plants climbed out of the towers' windows, up the walls and out to the sand, tell-tale signs like fading white stones and broken statues indicated that this building possessed great beauty in the past but two things were especially eye-catching._

 _The first thing was the tall figure standing beside the old building. It wore a long, black hooded robe that seemed to flutter over the grey sands and blend in with the dead trees. Its hands and face were pale and thin, with cold white eyes and an expressionless visage. A halo stretched up from both sides of its head, giving it a likeness to yellow horns._

 _The other thing, that while less eye-catching, still shocked him was the large symbol carved above the building's arched entrance; a circle with two opposing spikes._

 _As he kept gazing at the haunting image, the white figure's voice rang out:_

" _Seek out the house of the dead. Then you shall know more."_

 _He wanted to ask more, to ask about the robed figure, about the strange building, but he felt himself being pulled away again. As the view of tree faded from his sight, he tried to call out._

 _And then, there was darkness._

Naruto woke up with a gasp. Clutching the bedsheets, he looked around him in fright. But when he was greeted by the sight of his room, he calmed down.

' _Just that dream again'_ he thought as he clambered out of the bed. _'It was different this time though, what was that house?'_

The blond was awoken from his mental questioning when he smelt a pleasant odour wafting from downstairs. Looking out the window to see that the sun was already up and mostly above the treeline, he quickly changed from his sleeping clothes (they couldn't be called pyjamas) and headed downstairs. He followed the scent into the kitchen, where he saw the familiar hairstyle of Ajisai stirring some soup in a pot.

She must've heard him enter, because she turned to him and let out a little smile. "Hi Naruto, you're just in time for breakfast."

Several months after the trip to Rain Country, the new addition of Ajisai to the Forest House brought about several changes. First of all, the kitchen had more food in it than before, and much more varied than simply meat and forest plants. Now the kitchen was stocked with various snacks, bread, cheese and other store-bought goods. All thanks to the purplenette's assistance by sneaking to the village via shadow-travel with money (where did that money come from, he didn't really know or care) and buying supplies and equipment that couldn't be acquired in the forest.

Related to that was the fact that Ajisai knew how to cook as well, so they both set up a schedule for making the meals, rotating between themselves daily. Today was her day to cook, it seemed.

She poured Naruto a bowl before pouring herself one. Then they both headed to the main hall where they sat down and began to eat. Naruto hummed in content as he slurped down the broth, the taste of meat and spices warming his throat.

"Thank you Ajisai-chan, you sure know how to make good soup." She smiled at the compliment.

"You're welcome, Naruto. It's a recipe that my mother used to cook while I was in Ame. I managed to salvage it from her house and remember it by heart." She returned to her bowl and let a comfortable silence envelop them.

Another change in the mansion was that now that Naruto had someone to talk to who shared his age and his likes, the atmosphere seemed lighter. They were similar in many ways; both having troubled pasts, a love for books and knowledge, a desire to learn things regardless of their origin, as well as a like for philosophy. The house was still silent for most of the time, but occasionally soft conversations were heard from the library, discussing all manner of things.

They both finished their meals and put the bowls back in the kitchen. "What's the plan for today?" asked Ajisai.

"Well, I think some training exercises are up first thing, then some ritual lessons, exploring the forest, and maybe sneaking through the village to see what's going on." She nodded, the schedule acceptable to her, before asking:

"Can we go hunting today? I think that will serve as a good method of exercise. Besides, I believe that you need to restock on…ritual stimuli, was it?"

The last comment made Naruto cringe a little yet evoked a feeling of pride in him at the same time. A month ago, after countless lessons and quizzes from Obscuro, the shadow-demon finally decided to allow Naruto to perform the final two levels of what he called "earthbound rituals"; adding stimuli to the circle along with speaking incantations. Nothing too complicated, only a couple of sentences and very basic stimuli, but Naruto still felt proud that he has managed to accomplish this much in nearly two years, along with his Kris fighting style and chakra studies. As Obscuro said (or rather, wrote):

 _"For most humans it would take much longer to learn even a basic ritual like the Clairvoyance Ritual. Your learning rate is astonishing. You are impressive, for a human."_

That was one of the longest compliments the shadow-demon ever gave him. Was about to profusely thank him when Obscuro killed the mood by writing:

 _"I'm also surprised that you remembered my rules. By your inquisitive and impulsive nature, I had expected you to blow at least a finger off."_

To ruin the mood further, a trunk popped up from the shadows. Opening it, he jumped back in disgust as the sight of fur, organs, horns and eyeballs from various animals greeted him, some in liquid-filled jars. Desensitized to gore he may be, the sight of bloody, wet body parts is still enough to cause any sane man to gag. He turned to Obscuro with a disgusted expression, only to widen his eyes in horror as he saw the message:

 _"We will be starting to use stimuli for our more complicated rituals from now on. Go ahead and take the eyeball just near the bear."_

If he could actually see his face, Naruto would bet the house that Obscuro was grinning maniacally, teeth bare and all.

From that day onwards, Naruto had to deal with touching, rubbing and smelling animal body parts, something that still made him want to vomit all over the floor.

Shaking his head from the gory thoughts, he saw Ajisai was looking at him with a confused expression.

"I'm fine, just remembering the stuff that I had to touch" she 'ah'ed silently. "So, how do you want to do it?" She let out a small grin.

"No weapons, no chakra. First one to get knocked to the ground loses."

They both headed out to the back of the house and got into basic stances. At an unspoken signal, they moved.

As they both got within striking distance of each other, Ajisai took the initiative and attempted to strike at Naruto first. Quickly closing the gap between them she grabbed his right arm, preparing to put it into a locking hold.

Realizing her intention Naruto thrust his free arm forward, knocking away her incoming arm, and slammed his wrist into her elbow, causing her arm to bend and loosen the hold she had on his. Slipping his arm out of her hold he struck the side of her chest, knocking the breath out of her.

Knowing she was at a disadvantage this close to him in her current state, she quickly jumped back a few to gain so space to try and catch her breath. Realizing he had the upper hand at the moment Naruto rushed forward, trying to get in close while she was still recovering.

Noticing his advance, she struck out at him with her leg, striking him and causing him to stagger back, trying to ignore the pain in his shin and regain his balance. Rushing at him, she proceeded to strike at several points on his left arm, all the while trying to get a get a good hold on it so she could lock it out and then use the locked-out limb as leverage to force him to the ground.

Not wanting to let her get a hold of his arm, especially considering it was starting to go numb from all of her strikes, he thrust his palm out forward, slamming it into the center of her chest, knocking all of the wind out of her and causing her to double over, trying to get her ability to breathe back.

Once again, she tried to get distance, and once again he followed her to keep the upper hand, though this time instead of allowing her kick to set him off balance he feinted to the left. While she attempted to strike out at him on his left he suddenly jerked right, kicking out her other leg from underneath her, resulting in her falling to the ground, and subsequently, her loss.

Both of them were lightly panting, Naruto with his hands on his knees, and Ajisai wiping her forehead, trying to ignore the pain that came from the landing.

"So, lesson time?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, we should head back inside. You and I both know that Obscuro hates lateness."

They stretched a little bit before heading back inside and into the library. Waiting for them was the floating chalk, the small writing board and the large blackboard. Only this time a map of the Elemental Nations was drawn on the blackboard. As soon as they sat down, the chalk began writing.

"You are both on schedule. Judging by the sweat on your skin, I presume that you both finished a spar?" They both nodded.

"Very well. Good to see you not neglecting any aspect of your studies. Today we will be going a little bit into the history of the Elemental Nations before the rise of chakra. What is the story of how chakra came to be?" Ajisai raised her hand.

"The story goes that a powerful sage called the 'Sage of the Six Paths' appeared at a time of war and strife to save the people. He was the first person to ever use chakra and he bestowed chakra to the people to try and get them to live in peace. He also created the Bijuu, including the Kyuubi. But man started to wage war again, this time using chakra as a weapon."

"Correct. Seeing how both of you have read some of the history books here, let me ask you this; do any of them say anything about the time **before** the Sage?"

That question caused the two children to pause their attention. Indeed, in all of the books that they have read here, none of them went into detail about the world, or at least the Elemental Nations before the time of the Sage; only brief summaries and descriptions of various kingdoms that ruled here.

This time Naruto raised his hand. "Nothing much, really; only that there were several kingdoms scattered throughout the land. After the Sage gifted chakra to the people, those kingdoms collapsed due to civil war and the Warring Clans period started."

"Correct. As you have seen, thanks to all this conflict, much of the old kingdoms' history and records have been lost in the sands of time. Fortunately for you, today you shall learn about these kingdoms. For I have witnessed them in their glory, and I have seen their fall."

Naruto and Ajisai widened their eyes in awe at that revelation. "You remember them?" The young girl asked. Then a thought came to her head.

"I-if you say you remember them…just how long ago was it? How old are you?"

She asked the question that was at the foremost of both children's thoughts. If the shadow-demon has seen these kingdoms while they were still standing, then what was his age? How much had he seen?

After she asked the question though, no reply came. A few seconds later, the chalk began writing again, albeit slower and more hesitantly than before.

"Truthfully, if you would consider my 'birth' as the first time I entered this world, then I do not know my 'age'. Time is a concept I perceive differently than you mortals. A few years may pass as a few fleeting minutes, or an hour can seem like decades. Also, I do not even remember the circumstances of my 'birth', nor the year when I 'awoke' – gaining individual thought.

In short, I do not know exactly how long I have roamed this earth, but based on what I have seen…I would say that I have done so for several centuries at least, maybe even a thousand years."

…

…

…

This left the two kids gaping in wonder and awe at their teacher. A thousand years? That…was amazing! What sights he must have seen! What events he must have been witness to! But most importantly…what knowledge did he attain! A thousand years' worth of knowledge…the thought made Naruto salivate a little.

They were quickly shaken out of their stupor with flicks to their foreheads. They quickly snapped to attention as more writing appeared, this time on the large blackboard.

"Indeed, before the time of the Sage, many kingdoms inhabited the world, on this continent and further. The kingdoms were numerous, each with their own history and culture. But three kingdoms stood out from the rest, more influential and powerful than any others, that some might have even called them empires.

The first kingdom was called Kemet-Babilim. The oldest of them all, it was nicknamed 'The Beating Heart of the Desert', for its territory was composed of mainly desert lands and sandy dunes. Humans there were survivors, learning how to survive the harsh conditions, beating and controlling the desert, lest they died of thirst among the dunes. Grand palaces for the rulers and nobles were carved from the desert rock, tales and depictions of their gods adorning the walls. The high language, the one written by priests and scribes, seemed to possess a will of their own, for it was made of pictograms and drawings, and when arranged all together they would seem to radiate power. Even the tombs were magnificent, sometimes even more so than the palaces themselves. It was here that the art of human rituals first came to be. Most of Wind Country resides in its former territory.

The second kingdom was called Kyoku-Tō. This kingdom was based in what is now Fire Country, stretching from the east of Earth Country to Lightning Country. The culture and language were very similar to yours, only with no chakra and a more varied palate of traditions. Ninja did exist back then, only they relied on actual stealth and subtlety rather than flashy jutsu. Your Kris daggers Naruto came from a vassal kingdom to Kyoku-Tō called Java. While it did fall like the rest of the kingdoms, its culture and influence was so strong that it remained among the people to this very day.

The third and final kingdom was called Occidens. It was the youngest of them, yet in terms of area, it was the largest kingdom of them all. It was the most technologically advanced of the three, a beacon for science, philosophy and mathematics. What they were good at however, was conquering. Their armies were massive; all soldiers trained as tightly built legions. They expanded their territory from simple farming plains to encompass nearly a quarter of the known world at the time. So much so that it was officially deemed an empire. You would have been fascinated by its cities, especially by the capital city of Rome. White marble buildings supported by ornate pillars flanking the paved, cobblestone roads, massive fortresses standing tall above any foe that wished to challenge them. Schools and libraries, sanctuaries of knowledge held the collective records of hundreds of scholars, both Roman and foreign. The Latin language you use in rituals Naruto, originated in Rome."

Throughout Obscuro's lesson, Naruto and Ajisai were furiously scribbling away in their notebooks (Ajisai had requested one as well). As they kept writing, dozens of questions were floating around in their heads, eager to pop out and be asked for the sake of knowledge.

Eventually, Obscuro moved the chalk to the small writing board. "Now, any questions?"

The two nearly jumped out of their seats and raised their hands, although not making a single peep. One of Obscuro's pet peeves it seemed, were interruptions and fast-paced talking. The shadow-demon pointed the chalk to Ajisai.

"What languages did the other two kingdoms speak?"

"Kemet-Babilim had a wide assortment of languages, but the ones used in state affairs – the 'official' ones - were Akkadian and Kemetian. The other ones included Sumerian, Hebrew, Persian and other local dialects."

This time Naruto was given the chance to speak. "You said that Kyoku-Tō spoke a language very similar to our own. Did they use rituals?"

"Yes, they did have a ritual system of their own, but with the rise of chakra it has transformed into fuinjutsu. I know what you are going to ask and the answer is that I taught you how to use the Latin system for two reasons: One, the Latin ritual system was the most efficient and orderly of all the systems, so much so that Kemet-Babilim adopted some of its traits. The second reason is what I told you when we first met. Latin is a dead language, both to written and spoken. So if anyone should listen in to your conversations or steal your ritual notes; they will not be able to understand any of them."

Ajisai's turn now. "If the Occidenians had such an impressive army, then how did they fall?"

Obscuro's answer? "Civil war and a certain Event."

Ajisai asked that the shadow-demon elaborate, but she received a simple "That is for later" and dropped it.

"Was anything left of the other kingdoms after the Sage died?" asked Naruto.

"Yes" wrote Obscuro "Ruins and remnants mainly. I said that that is for later, but I will tell you this; after that Event, most of the people in the other kingdoms either died, became wanderers and found their way here, or closed themselves off in small hidden villages **(not ninja Hidden Villages).** "

Ajisai went to ask more, but Obscuro quickly wrote "That is enough for today. But I can sense that you both wish to learn more."

Out of the shadowed corners of the library, a large thick tome popped out, floating towards the two. Its cover was black and three symbols were drawn on it; a laurel wreath with a katana pierced through it and a rainbow-winged, dark-blue beetle under them.

"This is a record I have written myself in Latin about the Three Kingdoms. Come back from your hunt with good bounty and this shall be your reward. But I want you to use the **Ritual of Eagle's Sight** (ワシの視力の儀式 – Washi no Shiryoku no Gishiki) for this hunt. That is all."

At the mentioning of that specific ritual, Naruto cringed. While not as disgusting as some of the other rituals he had read about or had been taught, the stimulus used for it was a bit more upsetting for him than the rest. But to get that big, juicy book, it was worth it.

So Naruto and Ajisai went up to their room to prepare for a hunt. Yes, their room. The night after Ajisai's first official meeting with Obscuro, Ajisai had opted to remain in Naruto's room as her sleeping quarters. When Naruto pointed out that she had said it was improper for a girl to sleep with a boy, she merely pointed out:

 _"We have already done so twice without any unpleasant incidents, so I see no reason why should we stop. Also I um…I don't like sleeping alone."_

That last part was said while she turned away for him so that he wouldn't see the slight blush on her cheeks. The Uzumaki's rational, yet innocent (in that regard) mind reasoned that the request was fine, so he indulged her.

They entered the room and Naruto pulled out from under the bed his battle outfit. Apart from a slight change in size, it wasn't different than usual. Donning it, he took a few scrolls, equipped his Kris and turned to Ajisai.

She stood near the desk, wearing her grey kimono-shirt, with leather armguards and leg guards. Attached to her brown-orange sash were a ninja pouch, filled with kunai and shuriken and several sealing scrolls. She wore lavender pants with another small pouch attached to her right leg. From one of the desk drawers she pulled out two large kunai, about two inches longer than a usual one.

"Are you ready?" asked Naruto. She nodded. "Good. Let's get the ritual over with and go hunting."

They headed back downstairs and into the kitchen. From a large cupboard under what was presumably a sink, Naruto pulled out a large trunk and opened it. It was the ingredient trunk that Obscuro gave to him, and it still grossed the blond out.

Nevertheless, he steeled himself and pulled out a small vial. Inside the vial was a preserving liquid with a small, yellow eye. On it was written the word "Eagle".

After putting the trunk back, they re-entered the main hall and Naruto started drawing on the floor with chalk. Thanks to his many hours of gruelling practice, within ten seconds a circle was drawn out.

It was big enough for him to sit in with additional room. The shape matrix was a pentagram, with a triangular symbol core. On two of the circles were drawn an eye and the kanji for 'human'. The final core was empty.

Naruto sat down in the center of the circle facing the empty core. He pulled out the eye from the vial, all the while trying not to throw it away in disgust, and set it on the core. Once doing so, he drew one of his Kris and cut his palm. Closing his eyes and placing the bloody palm onto the circle, he pushed some of his life-force into it and chanted:

"Aquila autem spiritus, dona mihi visus.

Nec hostes fugere sinite praedam celare." (1)

The circle lit up in blue sparks before turning yellow. As it did so, Naruto's eyes started to feel like they were burning. But having been used to the pain that was experienced from a ritual, he didn't budge.

All the while, Ajisai sat on an armchair, staring at the blond with fascination in her eyes. She had seen Naruto perform rituals several times beforehand, yet it had never ceased to amaze her each time. What was just as fascinating was the stoic expression Naruto maintained through the ritual, even though his eyes were closed. That was one of the things she found fascinating in Naruto; even after several months living with him and conversing with him, she couldn't really figure out what he was thinking.

A few seconds later, the glow died down and a faint eagle's cry was heard. Looking closer, she saw that the eagle eye had now shrivelled and turned to dust. Naruto stood up, dusted himself, and opened his eyes. Ajisai nearly flinched at what she saw.

Instead of their regular sky-blue color, his irises had turned a dark shade of yellow, with small tints of brown ringing the pupil.

He looked around him, as though he was seeing everything for the first time, and then took a step forward. Then another. And another. And another…

…and he fumbled over his feet and nearly fell.

After managing to stand upright again, Naruto looked at her with a sheepish smile while rubbing his head. "Sorry if that seemed weird, it's just kind of hard to see with these eyes. Everything looks closer now." She blinked, waking her out of the slight daze she had just experienced.

"N-no, it's fine. Do you need time to adjust?" He shook his head in reply.

"No. This ritual only lasts for four hours, so it's best that we get going quickly. The sun might go down."

Nodding again, she stood up and walked to his side. After he managed to focus his sight, Naruto motioned to her and they both headed out.

The clearing outside the house hadn't changed over the past two years, although a few new trees did start to grow on the far side. The sun was in its afternoon position, providing a clear view of the forest around them. The weather was pleasant, especially for the winter.

Naruto narrowed his eyes to try and see if there were any ANBU nearby. Thanks to Obscuro, who after Ajisai's decision to stay added an illusion layer to the ritual matrix around the house, he didn't have to worry about any Konoha ninja seeing her or him leaving the house. Still, best be careful.

Giving her a silent nod, they went around to the back of the house where there were no ANBU, took a look at the trees, and dashed off.

They headed deeper and deeper into the forest, with not a word spoken between them. Ajisai looked at the ground for any tracks, while Naruto, using his temporarily-enhanced eyesight, tried to spot any prey that lurked in the dense brown and green of the forest.

They kept at it for over an hour, until they came across a male deer drinking from a small stream. It didn't look very old, as its horns weren't very big. Nevertheless, it looked like a good catch.

Looking to Ajisai, he pointed at her, as though asking _'Do you want to have a go?'_ She nodded in response as she pulled out a small scroll and silently crept over to the deer, careful not to step on any twigs.

After closing in on it yet still maintaining a good distance, she quickly whipped open the small scroll and swept it in an arc in front of her. Almost immediately, with a silent poof, a small barrage of kunai and shuriken shot out of the scroll and hit the deer in the flanks and legs, one even getting into its eye. The deer moaned in pain before she drew one of her long kunai, dashed in and jabbed it in the neck.

After seeing what Naruto did with the scroll back in Rain Country, Ajisai had asked from Obscuro to acquire sealing scrolls and various ninja tools. Entranced by the idea of fuinjutsu and recalling a memory of an Ame-nin using the same technique, she had adopted the art of **Buki-Fuinjutsu (2)** , where she would store various ninja tools in her scrolls and release them in a barrage. After acquiring the tools and scrolls, she began practicing relentlessly day after day, and it was there that both she and Naruto discovered that she could learn things at an astonishing rate; so much so that now she could not only properly aim at her target's weak points, but also utilize shurikenjutsu to slightly curve and change the trajectory of her projectiles.

The deer fell to the ground, blood slowly pouring out of the spots where her weapons hit. Pulling out her kunai, Ajisai quickly wiped it on the grass and recollected the tools that she had thrown. She knew that while they could get as much money as they wanted thanks to Obscuro, she thought that if she, an underage girl, would be seen frequently buying ninja tools, someone would be bound to notice; especially if they didn't find her on any village records. So it would be best to recycle and maintain her tools.

After sealing the tools and the deer into scrolls, her cheeks slightly reddened when she saw Naruto give her a thumbs-up with a small smile on his face. For some odd reason she found out that she liked being complimented by the blond; even said compliment was a silent one.

She quickly went to Naruto's side when he gestured to what seemed like a path in the forest. Moving closer and bending down, she saw the deer's footprints arriving from that path. Since it was a male, then that meant there were females nearby. She dashed after the tracks, with Naruto following her.

After what seemed like half an hour, judging by the faint movement of the sun from under the trees, the two still saw no signs of any deer that might have been there. He looked to Ajisai to ask her if there were any more tracks, when he remembered something that he forgot to ask her yesterday.

"Did anything happen in the village lately?" The purple-haired girl lifted her chin with a thoughtful expression for a few seconds before replying.

"Hmm…no, there was nothing of any particular interest. Mainly the boosting of security around clan homes after the…you know."

What she was talking about of course, was the massacre of the Uchiha Clan. Around a month and a half ago, according to what Ajisai heard at least, Itachi Uchiha slaughtered everyone in his clan in one night, except his mother Mikoto and little brother Sasuke. He then fled the village and was listed as a missing-nin.

This was a shocker to all of the residents of the Forest House. For Ajisai, it was the fact that someone who could slaughter a whole clan in one night was out there, doing who-knows-what, that made her rather nervous, although she didn't show it much. For Naruto, it didn't make any sense for Itachi, the person who seemed to care for his family more than anything else, to kill them all just like that, although the fact that he spared his mother and brother did show some of it.

Obscuro, well…he knew something. "I had expected this to happen sooner" he wrote. Exactly what did the shadow-demon mean by that? He didn't 'say'.

"Oh" Naruto muttered. "Did any of the villagers seem tense today?"

"No more than they should be, especially after the massacre of such a powerful clan. Although…" she then cupped her chin and scrunched her nose in thought.

"They did seem rather eager about something; it's like there's this festival or event that's going to happen soon. I heard them whispering to one another with gleeful expressions." She turned to Naruto. "Do you know of anything like a festival or event that might be happening soon?"

Naruto scratched the side of his head as he tried to remember any celebration or festival that might occur in the next week or so, but nothing came to mind. He just shook his head.

Suddenly, he snapped to attention as his ears picked up the sound of twigs snapping coming from the far left of them. Ajisai must have heard it too, since her body tensed and her eyes narrowed. A faint grunting sound came from the trees, with the occasional squeal.

Naruto smirked as he realized what their next kill would be: wild boar! He liked them. Not only did they bring good meat, but they provided a small challenge to keep his skills up. Ritualist he may be, he didn't deny the usefulness of a prepared body.

Motioning Ajisai to follow him while taking the leading, he quickly pulled out a Kris while quietly dashing through the thick green, getting closer to the grunting. When the grunting and squealing became clear, he peeked through a bush and saw it. A clearing was laid out in front of him, as well as a shaking animal.

It was a boar alright. It wasn't particularly big, not even half the size of the papa boar that he had hunted once. It had dirty black-and-brown skin, large hooves and a tail with a hairy tip. It was currently trying to uproot a small yet pretty-looking plant, probably for dinner. The thing that was different about it was the size of the two horns that protruded from its snout; each horn was probably the size of the snout itself, and the tips looked sharper than normal.

 _'Time for a distraction then'_ he thought _'come to think of it, I haven't used this in a while.'_

Making a Tiger hand sign with his hands, he whispered " **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** ". Two identical clones, with weapons and all, appeared with a poof of smoke at each side. He waited for the boar to start pulling the plant again before motioning to them to attack. When the boar did pull, they dashed forward.

Each of them drew a Kris and tried to stab the boar in the gut on snout. But the boar must've heard their footsteps, because it let go of the plant and charged the nearest clone. Said clone managed to slash the boar's snout, but the boar had already charged at him and hit him, making him go poof.

The second clone took advantage of the boar's enraged state and moved to stab it in the flank, or at least slash a leg. He landed a deep stab in its right flank, but the boar violently shook him off and rammed him in the chest, causing him to dispel as well.

It was here that the real Naruto, with a Kris in hand, moved forward as fast as he could; taking advantage of the large gash that was weakening the beast, slid on the ground and slashed it in its two front legs. The boar squealed in pain and then fell on its side. With no hesitation, Naruto got up and dashed back to the boar, where he stabbed it hard in the neck. It let out a strangled grunt and twitched a little, before going silent.

Pulling out the dagger and wiping it on the grass, the young Uzumaki sealed the carcass in a scroll. He looked back to the bush he jumped out of and saw Ajisai jog towards him, in her eyes a small hint of...worry?

"Are you alright?" She asked, her eyes looking over him to check for any injuries.

"I'm fine, just a little roughed up from that slide." She looked at him for a few more seconds, before seemingly accepting his assessment.

"What now?" She asked. Naruto looked up at the sky. Since it was winter, the sun would be setting sooner than normal and sure enough, he could see it slowly approaching the horizon. There was still time left, though.

"I think that we should try looking for birds or small animals. They should be out now since the big predators are most likely going to turn in because it's dark."

"I saw a nest over by that bush. Want to try?" She asked. Naruto nodded and followed her. After reaching the aforementioned bush, he used his "eagle eyes" to zoom in on the treetops. Sure enough, a small nest was resting on a branch, with a blackbird sleeping in it. Didn't seem to hold any eggs though.

He pointed to where the nest was. Ajisai nodded, moved to a good position along the tree and tree-walked a little bit (her chakra control wasn't that good yet) before pulling out some shuriken and throwing them at the nest. One of them hit the bird dead-on before it even had a chance to chirp, and the rest toppled the nest to the ground.

They kept going like this for another hour and a half, tracking and hunting small mammals and birds using Naruto's enhanced sight. After managing to get 4 more birds and 3 squirrels (fast little rodents), Naruto could feel the effects of the ritual slowly starting to fade.

"We should head back now. Luckily for us, I know this path." Ajisai said nothing as she followed him in the direction of the house. But as they kept moving forward, a morbid feeling crept into Naruto's gut. Like something was warning him of a nearby threat.

Trying to shake his head off the feeling, he kept moving forward when he noticed two things:

One, they were getting close to the house.

Two, a loud clamouring of voices came from ahead, moving towards said house.

His old paranoia from his village days creeping in, he dashed a little faster as he saw the outline of the house against the setting sun's rays, as faint as they were (and with his eagle sight).

They had reached the back of the house when he had noticed again that the voices were getting louder, and they weren't just voices.

They were human shouts and hollers.

He pulled Ajisai's arm and dragged her with him, jumping on the wall and into a window. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he tried to figure out what room they were in when he found himself and his companion whisked in a swirl of shadows to another room, this one with a window facing the main clearing. He took a look at the window and his eyes widened with shock and fear.

Arriving from the trees was a mob made out of several dozens of Leaf villagers, each of them holding a torch or a sharp object. There were even some ninjas in the group, recognizing them by their flak jackets. But what sent a small bead of sweat down his forehead was the look and emotions in their eyes, courtesy of his fading eagle sight.

Hatred. Anger. Even some sick joy.

Although he hadn't actually encountered any villagers since the night Obscuro took him in, his old fears and faint memories started to resurface. His breathing became hard and fast-paced; he stumbled backwards and might have kept doing so were it not for Ajisai grasping him by the shoulders and the familiar sensation of Obscuro's shadows swirling around him.

He felt a familiar flick to his forehead that shook him out of his fear-induced stupor. He turned to seem the familiar board with the following words written on them:

"Close your eyes. Breathe in and out. Calm yourself. You are safe." Ajisai kept rubbing his shoulders, calming him down. He took deep breaths and opened his eyes again.

"H-how did they f-find me?" His tone had a slight waver to it, although his face maintained some composure. Ajisai didn't know how to reply, so she kept trying to calm the blond down. Thankfully, Obscuro replied.

"This is just an assumption, but do you remember when I told you there was another group watching you along with the ANBU?" Naruto nodded, afraid to speak more.

"It is most likely that this group was trying to harm you, and they have decided to strike now by rallying the people to strike out against you as muscle." Naruto gulped as he recalled that conversation.

"Do not worry though, the circle will protect us and kill any foolish enough to try and cross it. But my question to you Naruto is this: what do **you** want done?"

It might have been because it was in a moment of panic, or maybe because of the sound of Obscuro's shadows, but as Naruto looked at the mob approaching the house, he remembered their stares, the pain, and especially the names that they called him.

 _"Demon!"_

 _"Monster!"_

 _"Scum!"_

Just when he had found a home, a place where he was safe in, they were going to try and take it away? No. Never. They had to stop. He then spoke in a hushed, cracked tone.

"Stop them. I don't care how, just stop them. I don't want them to try and hurt me or Ajisai ever again!"

Obscuro just wrote back "As you wish" and the board disappeared.

Naruto kept looking out the window, unconsciously grasping Ajisai's hand. While a myriad of thoughts kept swimming in his head, for some incredibly odd reason one thought in particular stood out.

 _'I'm going to have nightmares because of this, aren't I?'_

 **-Obscuro-**

Watari was a merchant that worked in Konoha for 30 years. He settled down here from a small farming village, grew a successful jewellery business, and even got married. Soon enough, they were expecting a child.

But then the Kyuubi came.

He still remembered how its demonic roars echoed throughout the village, how building that stood tall for decades crumbled under its tails, and especially the screams from his fellow villagers and the beast crushed them or devoured them whole.

Including his wife and unborn child.

He had managed to survive by hiding under the rubble of his former house until the beast was led away from the village. He wept for hours at the graves of his two beloved. He grew red with rage as he heard what had happened to the Kyuubi.

Sealed into a newborn, bearing fox-like marks on its cheeks, no doubt sign of the demon's influence.

He promised to avenge his dead wife and child, no matter the cost.

Watari tried to rid the world of it many times, but the Hokage's ninja always stopped, sometimes before he could even try. He stewed at this indignity; couldn't they see it was poisoning their minds? He couldn't even actually say anything because of the Hokage's S-Class law.

About two years ago, the demon brat seemed to have disappeared. No one saw him in the village, apart from the occasional whisper or rumour.

But tonight he finally had his change. He had heard from friends of his, who had also lost family and friends to the demon, that it was living in the forest in a large house. So they rallied together their fellow men, even enlisting the help of a few chunin. Tonight would be the night.

He would be remembered by all, and he would finally avenge his dead wife.

So there he stood, holding a pitchfork and a torch, along with his fellow villagers, in front of the demon's house. It fit it perfectly; decrepit, broken and miserable. Just like how they wanted it to turn out.

Eventually one of his friends called out:

"Come out here, demon! You have nowhere to hide! If you do come out, we'll make this quick!"

However nothing came out. Too frightened to show its face? That's just fine. They'll drag it out if they have to.

But just as he took a step forward, the front door creaked open loudly. Out stepped someone that he didn't recognize.

It was a teenager, leaning towards his late years, with spiky black hair and dark skin. He wore black bandages over his arms and a black cloak over his legs. A red-and black bandana adorned his forehead. He looked like someone from the shore villages, but three things set Watari on edge as the teen approached:

One, his yellow eyes seemed to flicker with black and red, giving them an unnatural tone.

Two, his grin was very off-putting, almost…predatorial.

Three, his body seemed to be emitting a black mist, rising from his body and gathering at his feet as he walked towards them. (3)

He stopped, still close enough to the house to enter it should he decide to retreat. The teen then spoke, in a youthful yet raspy voice that seemed to echo through the clearing:

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

For a moment, no soul spoke. One of the villagers, whose name Watari didn't remember stepped forward and said:

"There is a demon in this house. We are doing our duty to the world by ridding it from existence, so move." The teen just cocked his head, still grinning.

"Oh? A demon you say? I suppose you mean that nice Naruto boy that's staying here with me. How foolish you all are. Pathetic humans."

 _'Humans'?_

The villager snarled and vehemently screamed "NO! It is a demon! A demon in human skin! It killed our friends, our families, our children! It has to DIE!"

The teen still kept grinning, not a word coming out of his mouth. Annoyed by his attitude, the villager walked towards the teen.

 **(Black Butler OST – The Dark Crow Smiles, from 0:00 to 1:21 ONLY)**

"Fine, if you won't move, you demon-lover, we'll just have to – AAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!"

The villager screamed in sheer agony as a black…thing burst out of the ground and bisected him, leaving his halves bleeding on the ground. The teen was still grinning, although his eyes seemed to take on a darker glint and the grin became sadistic.

"It seems you intend to attack my home. For that offense, I shall ask you one question…"

A cold wind blew throughout the clearing as the torches started to flicker. The shadows on the ground seemed to twist around and even rise up. Just like that mist.

A monstrous presence seemed to envelop the area. Some of the villagers dropped whatever it is they held and started whimpering in fright.

The teenager raised an arm and the shadows started to move more wildly, more violently than before.

"…how do you wish to die?"

Then, there was darkness.

The screams that followed seemed to reach hell itself.

 **-Obscuro-**

Hiruzen Sarutobi was enjoying his favorite pastime: NOT doing paperwork, smoking his pipe and reading his Icha-Icha novel.

 _'Oh Hikari, I didn't know you could bend that way…'_ he thought as he let out a little giggle.

He was about to turn to the next page when Cat the purple-haired ANBU appeared in front of him, bowing down.

"Hokage-sama, there is a disturbance happening at the western forest." A bit annoyed at having his private time interrupted, he asked in a slightly miffed tone "What disturbance?"

"A large group of villagers seemed to be marching into the forest, all carrying torches and assorted objects." This brought a tinge of fear to Hiruzen's heart. No, it couldn't be…

"They seemed to be headed to where Naruto Uzumaki's newest residence lies." Cat said in a stoic, yet slightly panicked tone.

He looked to her with a gaze that was a mix of frightened and angry.

"Why didn't you and the rest of the squad stop them!?"

"Sir, the rest of the squad is out on missions and assignments. All of them signed by your hand."

That statement made Hiruzen search his head. _'I distinctly remember that I removed any mission requests to any of Naruto's guard. A mission signed by me? Then that would mean…'_ The Hokage's eyes narrowed in a furious expression and he roared:

"Danzo, you fool!" He turned to Cat and ordered her "Take me there now!"

The ANBU grabbed the Hokage's arm and shunshin-ed out of the office. They dashed through the trees; all the while Hiruzen prayed in his head that Minato's son was alive. As they moved though, he could hear faint whooshing sounds and anguished screams coming from ahead.

They arrived at the house within two minutes, by then any screams were silenced. But the sight that they were greeted to horrified the old man to the core.

 **(Naruto OST – Ritual)**

Blood. The entire clearing was smeared in blood, and he could swear that a few puddles were formed. Bodies of villagers, all torn up and mauled lay and even swam in the puddles of blood, presumably their own. Some had gaping holes through their chests, other beheaded, dismembered or bisected; the rest had large gashes sporting them. A few corpses were impaled on some broken branches, eerily set up to mimic an old execution technique. What was more disturbing though was that the expressions on all of the villagers' faces (the ones that still had them) were twisted into one of absolute terror.

Hiruzen still tried to process the whole nightmarish scene in his mind when he felt his ANBU nudge him. He looked at the house itself and saw Naruto standing here, looking a little shocked with a black-haired teenager grasping his shoulder. Mentally sighing in relief he called out to the boy.

"Naruto! What happened here?" The boy shook himself and looked at him, although the expression on his whiskered face became grimmer.

"Now do you see, Hokage-san? Why should I protect a village that wants to kill me? That tries to take away what is mine?" Shocked by Naruto's reply, he couldn't form the proper word to keep speaking. Thankfully, Cat managed to speak.

"Please, Naruto-kun" she asked again in a gentler tone "what happened here? Did they do anything to you?"

Naruto's gaze softened a bit and shook his head. "They tried to kill me. They failed."

Hiruzen managed to regain his senses. He stepped forward to speak to the blond when he focused on the teenager that was at Naruto's side.

"Who are you? Did you do this?" he asked in a commanding tone, befit of the Hokage. The teen turned his head to meet gazes and smirked a bit.

"In reverse order Hokage-san, I eliminated a threat to my home and as for who I am…I am what you and this village have failed to be."

The reply echoed in Hiruzen's head, a guilty feeling welling up in him. He opened his mouth to demand more of the teen when he got cut off by him.

"Let this be a warning to you, to anyone from Konoha or anyone who tries to harm us. Should anyone try to intrude on this ground…they will die, and their blood shall water the earth like rain."

As he spoke those words, the ground around the house lit up in a bright-red glow. Red sparks danced in a ring and across the ground as the air smelt of flame. Looking up to the sky, he gaped again; a large, star-like symbol floated above the house, ringed by shapes and strange squiggles.

The floating circle started to dim after a few seconds, but as Hiruzen lowered his head back to Naruto, he saw him and the teen entering the house, but not before the blond gave him a look that stung his heart:

It was a look of disappointment.

The Hokage lowered his head and sighed. How could this have happened? Just what killed them? But most importantly, was this his fault? Was this the true sign that he had failed Minato and Kushina?

 _'I should have foreseen this .I would have prevented any casualties, from both sides'_ he thought solemnly as he gazed at the stars. They seemed to be tainted red, as though the blood rained down from the heavens themselves

 _'But I cannot change the past. If Danzo did plan this, then no doubt he has already learned about the outcome of this massacre and reported it to the council. If I couldn't protect Naruto then, I will try and do so now. I will speak to him tomorrow morning about this.'_

He turned to Cat and nodded. She then grabbed him by the arm and shunshin-ed him back to the office. If they had both stuck around, they would have notice that there was a lot less wet blood on the ground than when they arrived.

 **-Obscuro-**

It (he now, actually) cracked his neck as he recovered from this latest…exercise. He didn't think at first to use something like this, and even when he had, the thought somewhat repulsed him. Having only used this power once (twice now) in the past few decades, the sensation that came from wearing this form was somewhat strange, but no matter.

The child had asked to be rid of those fleshbags, those disgusting examples of human trash, and so he did. The exercise was just a bonus. Oh, such wonderful screams…

Speaking of said child, he turned his gaze to the couch where he saw the girl holding the boy, a soft expression on her face, letting his head rest on her shoulder while he choked up. Seeing this made him remember the reason why he had accepted her and allowed her to stay in this house.

HShe could become the support, the pillar of sanity to him that he could never be. He didn't know such emotions like sadness and caring. He would just let the boy sink in that mental abyss. But not now.

Well, not yet at least…

Deciding that it was time to do something about this situation, he cleared his throat. By then the children had calmed down somewhat, yet they still held onto each other.

"As you can see, the villagers have grown bold. While I have supreme confidence in the defence of this house, I believe it is best that we head out of this village for a short while, at least until the flames of discord have dulled."

He looked downwards and cupped his chin in thought. Where to? The desert? No, it was too soon. The white ruins? No, too soon as well. How about the…? No, definitely not. Maybe a livelier place?

He was still reviewing possible locations in his head when he heard the boy speak up. His tone was still cracked, but he seemed a lot calmer now.

"U-um, I think I know a place that we can go to. O-or at least look for." That caused him to raise an eyebrow under his forehead-cloth. He gestured for him to continue.

"W-well, I had a vision again before I woke up today, but this time it was different…"

As the boy kept talking, he could feel his frustration, confusion and curiousness well up and rise. The winged figure speaking to him? A "house of the dead"? "You shall know more"? What on earth could this possibly mean?

What was even more frustrating was the fact that all of those descriptions, all of those words – they seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't find out WHY!

Deciding to see the problem head on, he masked his confusion and calmly asked: "If you would give me permission, may I see this vision?"

At the children's confused looks, he elaborated. "One of my many supreme abilities is that I have the power to read minds by touch. If you would allow me, I shall look at this vision myself and deduce where this 'house' might be found."

The children glanced at each other for a few seconds and nodded. He stepped forward and knelt down in front of Naruto.

"This will not hurt at all. Just close your eyes and focus on the vision." The boy nodded before doing just that. He reached up to his little forehead and touched it.

Instantly, he saw the world dissolve around him, back into the familiar primordial shadow from whence he came. Strangely, he remained in human form. Oh well, maybe it's because he has never done this as a human.

The shadows soon morphed into shapes and a light filled his vision. After rubbing his eyes, he saw himself sitting by the boy, gazing out into the massive clouds that whirled around him. His instincts screamed at him, warning him of danger. Yet his curiosity overwhelmed anything else. He had to know more.

Eventually, his gaze fell on the figure that the boy had described multiple times. As he gazed upon its visage, a primal feeling started to arise in him, although for the life of him he couldn't remember what.

The being closed the book and conversed with the boy just as he had told. When the image in the book formed, he took a good long look at it, trying to discern any landmarks from his memory.

Suddenly, as his eyes passed along the murky shore, he remembered where he had seen such a beach. Snapping his fingers, he looked up from the book and was about to leave when something impossible happened.

The white being turned to him, _and looked at him_.

How!? This was impossible. This wasn't the actual vision! It was just a playback, a memory! He could feel the being staring at him, a pressure slowly forming. In that moment, something happened that he had thought was not possible for him to do; he panicked.

He quickly dispelled the memory, finding himself standing in the familiar main hall of his human abode. Looking at the children's eyes, he saw a small hint of shock pass through their eyes. He was breathing heavily, a small bead of sweat rolling down his arm.

Fixing his composure, he spoke to the two in a calm tone, letting a hint of eagerness seep into his words.

"Well, that was a very interesting vision. I shall review it again in the future. Fortunately, I have managed to discern the approximate location of this "house of the dead". Pack your things and get a good rest, for we leave tomorrow at dawn.

We are going to Water Country."

 **-Obscuro-**

 **Tada!**

 **Like I said, extra-long chapter. I think I have managed to do well in regards of balancing Naruto that he wouldn't be OP (yet).**

 **The Three Kingdoms I have mentioned are based off the real world's old kingdoms and empires. Kemet-Babilim for Middle East/North Africa, Kyoku-To for the Far East, and Occidens for…well, it's obvious.**

 **What will happen in Water Country? You shall know in time…**

 **Would you like me to work on Chapter 11 or Chapter 3 for my Mugenjin of Judgment story?**

 **Could someone draw up some fanart for this fic? Like Naruto, Ajisai and Obscuro all together in the library? Or at least the symbols and circles I have described? I would really appreciate it!**

 **Read and Review. Review. REEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVIIIIIIEEEEEEWWWWWW!**

(1) Spirit of the eagle, grant me your sight.

Let no foe escape me, let no prey hide from me.

(2) Means "Weapon-Sealing Arts". It's the name I gave to what both Ajisai and Tenten use.

(3) Picture Angra Mainyu/Avenger from Fate/Stay Night, but with the aforementioned descriptions and no tattoos.


	12. Chapter 11 - How to Rent a Ship

**Chapter 11 – How to Rent a Ship**

I own nothing except my OCs

 **Could someone draw up some fanart for this fic? I appreciate it if you would!**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

 **-Obscuro-**

Just as the Hokage predicted, that very same night, only a couple of hours later, he had received word from his ANBU that a council meeting was about to take place, issued by Danzo. Mentally furious at his old friend that he had called a council meeting without his permission (again), he stormed the council chambers just as everyone was settling down.

He took a second to eye everyone in the room. A full summons it seems, with all the ninja clan heads and most of the civilian councilmen present.

"Ah, Hiruzen. How good of you to join us. I would have sent a request for a meeting later, but this is quite urgent," said Danzo with an emotionless voice, completely hiding any intent he may have had.

"That is Hokage-sama to you, Danzo. I'm not an idiot. I know that you called several council meetings without me in attendance, which is illegal according to Konoha's charter. I will have you arrested if you keep violating the rules just because you think you're an Elder."

Danzo didn't even twitch, although he did bristle inwardly.

The Hokage pulled out his pipe and drew a long breath. "Now that that has been settled, can you enlighten me as to why has the council been gathered at this late hour?"

Danzo stood up from his chair. "There have been reports of a large disturbance this evening occurring in the western Konoha woods. When several chunin were deployed to investigate, they found the mutilated corpses of several dozen Konoha citizens."

Whispers and mutterings filled the room. The civilian councilmen started to turn their heads around with worried expressions on their faces. The clan heads were far more composed, with only slight murmurings and occasional glances being thrown. Hearing no interruptions, Danzo continued.

"As this became a matter of internal village security, I have done a thorough investigation on this matter. From what I have gathered, the massacre took place in front of a house that was not listed in the village's construction plans. Furthermore…" The room seemed to stop breathing in anticipation.

"…according to the chunins' report, they have listed the resident of said as one Naruto Uzumaki."

The entire room exploded in screams and clamours, mostly from the civilians' side, all claiming that the demon fox had finally broken free and was beginning to rampage on the village. The clan heads simply raised an eyebrow or started to from thoughts in their heads.

Hiruzen nearly face palmed at the sheer idiocy of the civilian councilmen. He was beginning to get tired of their accusations towards Naruto. Deciding that this was the best time to do some damage control, he let out a small burst of Killing Intent, silencing the room.

"While I will have another word with you about sending ninja on an unsanctioned assignment, I can tell you all right now that Naruto didn't do any of that."

Shikaku Nara, the Nara clan head asked "How do you know that, Hokage-sama?" While he had nothing against the kid, a second massacre in the span of one month was rather disconcerting.

"I personally received word from my ANBU about the disturbance and managed to arrive there just as it ended." The Hokage took a moment to figure out how he was going to say what, or rather who, he had seen.

"The _assumed_ perpetrator of this massacre was an unknown, male teenager who seemed to be the main resident of the house. According to him and Naruto, the villagers were there for the intent to harm the boy, so he claimed self-defence."

Seeing as how the civilians were about to protest, he raised his hand to silence them and kept talking.

"In addition, both of them had claimed that the villagers called Naruto a demon and other such derogatory names. In accordance with the S-ranked law I put in place, they had hinted to Naruto about his 'condition' and I would have executed them on the spot.

The fact that they are already dead just spared them from a death at my hands."

The civilians simply stewed in silence knowing that Hokage was right. Although they had managed to circumvent that law a few times, this time the actions done would have been unavoidable.

The clan heads completely understood the situation, as they would have defended their own homes with just as much (maybe a little less) force. However, the Hokage's comment about the unknown teen piqued their curiosity.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama," Hiashi Hyuuga asked, "but could you elaborate about this unknown teen that was with the boy? Maybe give a description of him?"

Hiruzen gave them all a description of the teen, even used his crystal ball to project his memories to them.

The entire council looked confused as they had never seen anyone with such unique features in the village. Maybe he was a native of Lightning Country? That thought was disturbing, particularly thanks to the Kumo-Hyuuga Affair that happened several years ago.

The clan heads though, focused less on the teen's physical attributes and more to the way he carried himself. His posture seemed rather relaxed for someone who supposedly killed that many people, but they saw that his other arm, the arm not grasping the blond child's shoulder, was tense; as though it was ready strike out at any given moment.

Shikaku spoke up again, "May we see the entirety of the memory, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen simply focused and the memory started to play, beginning from just before they had entered the clearing and ending just after he left it.

Although outward reactions were mixed, the entire chamber was horrified at seeing so many corpses mutilated in such a manner. Even more disturbing were the expressions on the corpses' faces and the sheer amount of blood that covered the ground.

At hearing the warning the teen gave the Hokage and the star that flashed above the house, the civilians were equally part terrified and outraged that someone had the nerve to insult the Hokage in that manner (hypocrites). The clan heads were left a little morose that the teen was right about the village failing Naruto, but that feeling quickly vanished as the star appeared.

The memory ended and the Hokage withdrew his crystal ball. Danzo decided that this was a good time to speak up.

"This boy is obviously a threat to the village. I move that we send a recovery mission to apprehend the two." Hiruzen flashed a stern look to the old war hawk.

"You will do no such thing. As I have said, they have acted in self-defence so none of them will be punished. I will talk with them tomorrow morning though, so ease any worries you might have."

Tsume Inuzuka, the Inuzuka clan head, a fierce-looking woman with shaggy brown hair and fangs, got up and asked the question that plagued most of the clan heads' thoughts:

"How exactly did those people die?"

Hiruzen tried to reply, but remembered that through his entire encounter with the teen, there were no signs of anything on him that might hint as being used for the killing. Also, his body didn't look like it had been injured or just slain several dozen people.

In short: he had no idea.

"I'm not exactly sure. But the evidence is strongly suggesting some sort of jutsu."

This rustled the clan heads in their seats. A jutsu that can kill that many people in such a manner? It had to be truly terrifying.

"I believe it is best that we continue with this matter tomorrow. I for one need a good night's rest, as do all of you I imagine. I will interrogate Naruto tomorrow morning, and we will have some answers. This meeting is adjourned."

The councilmembers all got up and left. Soon, the only two people left were the Hokage and Danzo. The former walked toward the latter with a flash of anger in his eyes.

"I don't know exactly how you managed to track down Naruto's house, but I do know that you probably leaked the information to the villagers! Damn you Danzo, you went too far!" he shouted.

The old war hawk turned away and said: "It was for the good of Konoha. Your refusal to hand him over to me is simply weakening this village. But I have done you a favour Hiruzen. I have managed to flush out the reason why the boy is so protected."

The Hokage shook his head. "You have done more harm than good. Now Naruto has even less of a reason to trust the village! If you even so much as attempt to provoke him, directly or indirectly, or the village drives him out, it will be on YOUR head!"

With those words, Hiruzen stormed out of the chamber, mentally promising to assign an ANBU squad to watch Danzo. As much as he hated to admit it though, Danzo did have a point: they now had a reason as to why Naruto stayed alive.

 _ **The next morning…**_

Thanks to the rather late council session, Hiruzen woke up later than he had intended, at 9:00 rather than 7:00. Cursing Danzo once again for his insubordination, he got ready to head out to Naruto's house. Arriving at his office, he was surprised (read: shocked) to see Shikaku Nara waiting outside the door.

Seeing the look on the Hokage's face, Shikaku said, "It's troublesome, but my curiosity got piqued the other night. I hope you'll let me join you, Hokage-sama."

Dazed by the black-haired strategist's presence, Hiruzen shook himself a little bit before replying, "Of course Shikaku-san. You might be able to help me with this investigation."

He cleared his throat and called, "Cat!"

The purple-haired ANBU appeared before the men, along with two other ANBU.

"Take us to Naruto-kun's home." She nodded, grabbed the two men and vanished, with the other ANBU following her.

Within minutes they were at the house. Hiruzen took a look and immediately noticed some changes. First, the corpses started to attract flies. He would have to take care of that.

Second, there was much less blood on the ground than the last time. Not dried up, but less blood in all. Strange.

Third, which was the most odd of the three and a tad disconcerting, was the large sign that was hammered to the ground, several meters in front of the entrance. It had a blood-soaked skull adorning its top, with the sign itself reading, in big red paint (?), "KEEP OUT OR DIE!"

Well, that was a simple message.

"Naruto-kun! Can you come out please? I simply wish to talk!"

No answer came. Knowing that someone should have heard him, he tried again.

"Naruto-kun! I promise that no one here will harm you! I just want to know what happened!"

Silence, again. Frowning, he turned to one of the ANBU, who wore a bird mask with a long beak.

"Crane, can you try and see if he's home?"

The ANBU – Crane – jumped from his spot and went for a window. But before he reached halfway there…

SMACK!

He slammed into something invisible mid-air and got knocked backwards.

A bit rattled, he got up and tried again, only to be met with the same result.

Shikaku and the Hokage were puzzled. What on earth just happened? Was there a barrier or some other protection here? Then, Hiruzen remembered the teen's words, as well as the star from last night.

 _"Let this be a warning to you, to anyone from Konoha or anyone who tries to harm us. Should anyone try to intrude on this ground…they will die, and their blood shall water the earth like rain."_

For some reason, the last part, with "blood shall water the earth", got him thinking. Was it a hint? Shikaku must have thought the same thing, because he saw the Nara pull out a kunai and cut his palm, letting blood drip on the ground.

A few seconds later, the red glow from last night appeared. There was no star, but sparks did flash near them. Shikaku kept looking at the blood that he dripped before noticing something:

The blood was disappearing, or rather, sinking.

Just as the final drop of blood sunk into the ground, the glow vanished and everything became calm. Shikaku and the Hokage had different thoughts running through their heads, but one of them passed in both their heads.

 _'I see…it seems that whatever is here draws power from blood. Very clever.'_

Hiruzen turned to Crane and asked, "You are a sensor if I'm not mistaken?" The ANBU nodded, "can you check if his chakra is there?"

Crane made a hand sign and gazed at the house. After a few seconds, he released the hand sign and shook his head. Hiruzen just sighed, although some part of him knew that this might happen. He was about to leave when Shikaku spoke up.

"Troublesome. I wouldn't worry too much Hokage-sama, Naruto will most likely return. The fact that there's a sign here means that he intends to return, and is trying to ward off people in the future."

Accepting the Jounin's reasoning, finding it logical as well, he turned to Cat. "Crane is now assigned to your squad. The moment anyone enters that house, inform me immediately."

She nodded and vanished along with the two ANBU. Hiruzen and Shikaku soon followed them back to the village. On the way, Shikaku said to him:

"Don't worry Hokage-sama; he'll probably come back tomorrow or later on in the evening."

The old man let out a small, hopeful smile. "I hope so Shikaku, I certainly hope so…"

Oh, the things humans think of to make themselves happy…

 **-Obscuro-**

Unlike what the Hokage thought, Naruto was quite a fair distance away from Konoha. He was sitting against a tree, reading his notebook peacefully while listening to Ajisai as she tried to calm down her body and not to vomit by doing the most rational thing she could think of:

Splashing it with water until she sneezed.

"AH-CHOO!"

Wow, that was quick.

This comedic little scene was the result of a morning shadow-travel attempt with Obscuro. After the…massacre…back at the House and Obscuro's little announcement, the two children packed their things for such a journey before sleeping in their bed, trying to forget the night's horrific events.

It had been a calm night. No visions, no nightmares, just the warm feeling of someone pressed close to him.

Apparently they must have held on to each other for the night, because when Obscuro woke Naruto up via shadow-tendril express, they both fell out of the bed.

That caused some swearing with a side of blushing for breakfast.

After the short morning debacle and a quick breakfast, the two children retrieved their things (sealed in ninja scrolls) and waited for what would come next in the main hall.

Sure enough, Obscuro had appeared, manifesting in all of his winged, demonic glory. After checking if they were ready, he grabbed the two and vanished from the house.

It was interesting to note that Ajisai was not used to taking long distance trips via shadow-travel. She was too used to the short bursts to and from the village that only lasted a fleeting second. So after an hour or so of flying through the shadow-world, the purplenette complained about a stomach-ache. So here he was, trying to relax his own mind as he ignored her shudders.

Naruto looked up from his notebook to see that Ajisai managed to calm herself down. He stood up and walked over to her. He grasped her shoulder gently.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a hint of concern. She sniffed a little and nodded, though the expression on her face did worry Naruto a little.

"Do you think you can make the rest of the trip?" he asked.

"I-I don't know, but I will try" she replied with a shudder.

Naruto just shook his head. It was obvious that the trip was heavily disorienting her, and that could prove dangerous should they enter a combat situation. So he tried to think of a way that she will endure the trip with no setbacks.

He thought for a little while until he remembered the first time she shadow-travelled with him back in Rain. That gave him an idea.

He turned Ajisai so that she looked straight at him and said: "I have an idea that might help you. Remember when you first shadow-travelled, you fell asleep and didn't have any aches?"

She nodded. "Well, what if I knocked you out for the duration of the trip? You won't suffer any aches and we can keep going uninterrupted."

Although a bit insulted at the accusation that she was slowing him down, she understood his point.

"If I do agree to this, how will you knock me out?"

Naruto did not think of that. "Um…"

Before he could say anything else however, she suddenly collapsed backwards and nearly hit the ground, but he managed to catch her at the last second.

He saw a black tendril stand where Ajisai was and sent it an accusing glare. The tendril simply tilted sideways as if asking _'What?'_ A vein throbbed on his forehead.

Continuing to glare for a few more seconds, Naruto then sighed. At least that part was over with. Looking at the tendril again, he nodded. The two children were immediately swallowed by the shadows as they vanished from sight.

The trip continued uneventfully. Still clutching Ajisai to his side, Naruto remained expressionless (he thought so at least) throughout the journey. He looked to Ajisai's sleeping form as he clutched her, and thoughts formed in his head.

He didn't really dwell on it too much before, but Ajisai joining him and Obscuro was one of the best moments of his life. Not to say that life with the shadow-demon alone wasn't great, but his guardian was just too silent, too unrelatable to stoke the small ember of loneliness that burnt inside of him. He remembered from his village days that he used to watch enviously as all the other children played with one another, laughing and smiling. No matter how much he was grateful, a room full of books and a silent watcher didn't truly quell Naruto's desire for a friend.

Ajisai came in though, and he couldn't have asked for a better friend. She shared his love of books and knowledge, she was open-minded and had similar views on the world as him, but not that similar so they could engage in their frequent debates. She may sometimes be silent as Obscuro, but her presence seemed to lessen the gloominess of the mansion.

What was the 'cherry-on-top' in Naruto's opinion, was the fact that she was always there to comfort him or hold him when he was upset or angry. She gave him the one thing that Obscuro could never give: a shoulder to cry on, both literally and figuratively. While the shadow-demon sometimes offered short words of comfort and assurance, that could never compare to what she did for him. She may rarely talk, but her touch was all that was needed for him to calm down.

Not that he would tell that to her, not anytime soon at least.

The shadows rushed past him for what seemed like a few more hours, when suddenly the shadows spit him and Ajisai out. Thinking that they have arrived, he was about to thank Obscuro when he noticed something very prominent:

Instead of a murky beach, a small port town was laid out in front of him. Boats and ships of different sizes flanked the docks, sailors drunkenly wandered the wet streets and houses were crammed together alongside the small hill that lumbered over the town. Hearing the scratching of the board, Naruto turned to see Obscuro's message:

"We shall have to find a ship here to take us to Water Country. With the abundance of them, it shouldn't be too hard."

Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow as he turned to look at the ships. "Why can't you just take us there?"

"I cannot cross large bodies of water unaided."

Naruto face-vaulted at that revelation. Recovering, he nearly screamed at the board. "WHAT?! You can't swim? W-why didn't you tell me this before?"

"It never seemed important until now. That, and you never asked."

Naruto just glared at the board, his face slowly heating up. Not important? Well of course that was important! Not being able to cross water when you could practically teleport was not something you leave out!

Naruto was about to curse the demon when he heard Ajisai waking up. She rubbed her eyes as she slowly stood, nearly stumbling in her daze.

"Uhh…what happened?"

"We're at some port town in Fire Country. Apparently, SOMEONE (cue accusing glare) forgot to mention to us that he can't swim."

Ajisai just raised an eyebrow at that little titbit of info. "Did he knock me out as well?"

Naruto nodded. She shrugged. "Figures. Why didn't you tell us this sooner?"

Obscuro wrote back. "Well, now you know, don't ask why. What's important now is acquiring the services of a ship that will take us to Water Country."

"Just how are we going to do that? I don't think they'll take requests from 9-year-old kids. That, or they'll try to cheat us out of money."

Instead of replying, the board vanished and a swirl of shadows rose from where it once hovered. A human-shaped outline appeared in the vortex before it receded, revealing the teenaged form that the shadow-demon took last night during the confrontation with the villagers.

"Leave that to me. I have ways of persuading people." With those words he started treading towards the town. Making mental notes to ask Obscuro about **that** particular ability, they followed him.

The odd-looking trio soon arrived at a dingy old tavern where they had seen some sailors enter.

"Stay close to me, do not wander off," Obscuro said. Then they entered the bar.

It was a rather dirty place, with a wet wooden floor and mouldy walls. The smell of booze permeated the air, the small lightbulbs giving off little light. Yet despite the gloominess, an air of light-heartedness and merriment hung over the place, evident by the cheerful looks on the sailors faces and their laughs as they gambled and drank.

The three headed towards the bar where a muscular man stood cleaning mugs. He had short-cut brown hair and a stubble, with small tattoos on his arms. He wore a white shirt underneath a green, dirty apron. Most likely the barkeeper.

Obscuro sat down at a stool with the children right behind him. The barkeeper looked up from his now-polished mug and asked, "You underage?"

"No," Obscuro replied, with no falter to his (now-human) voice.

The barkeep just looked at him with appraising eyes before going back to his mug. "What can I get you?"

Obscuro leaned on the counter and replied, "Me and companions here," he gestured to the two children, "are looking for a ship."

"Where to?" the bartender asked, eyes not leaving his work.

"Water Country. I can pay," he replied, lowering his voice.

The bartender stopped polishing the mug before giving him a questioning glance. "Tough luck, then. You won't find a crew here that'll be willing to take you there, not unless you got a lot of coin."

"Why?"

"Haven't you heard? There's a civil war going on there. Rebels against Kirigakure, the resident ninja village. Something about 'cursed blood' or some shit. Ships and boats are attacked and pillaged by both sides. It's a total bloodbath."

This was news to all of them. Although in hindsight, they haven't really paid attention to the outside world that much, what with them staying in the House.

"Water Country is made up of islands and Kiri is in the biggest one, right?" The bartender nodded.

"We don't want to go to Kiri, rather to one of the smaller islands. Is there any fighting there?"

The bartender hummed in thought. "Hmm…well, some ships do know a few routes that avoid the main battlegrounds. Maybe one of them can take you." He then returned to his mug as though nothing happened.

Deciding to give a little incentive, Obscuro pulled a gold coin from his black cloak and set it on the bar. The bartender took a quick look at it before picking it up. He bit it once, rubbed it a few times and pocketed it. He then pointed to a table on the far side of the tavern, near a window. Six men sat around it, drinking booze.

"These guys did a few jobs to Water Country recently and came back unscathed. If anyone can help you, it's them."

Obscuro nodded in thanks. He got up and went to the table, accompanied by the two kids. When he arrived, the men were still drinking, although he noticed they did it with less fervour than the other customers. He cleared his throat.

One of the sailors, a thin man with green hair, turned his head and asked, "What do you want, kid?"

"I'm looking for a ship to Water Country. I was told that you could make the trip."

By then the entire table had quieted down. A man with ponytailed brown hair and a moustache spoke up.

"Suppose that we could. What's in it for us?"

Obscuro reached into his cloak ad this time pulled out a small pouch. He spilled its contents on the table, revealing a handful of gold coins. The men widened their eyes in shock and greed as the moustached man performed the same inspection that the bartender did. He looked to the teen and grinned.

"In that case, we can definitely take you there. Kirigakure, I presume? It'll cost a little more, what with all the fighting there but – "

Obscuro cut him off. "Me and my companions actually want to head to one of the smaller islands, away from the war."

"Where to?"

"Do you have a map?" The man pulled out of a small bag hanging from his chair a large rolled-up piece of parchment. He unrolled it to reveal a map of the eastern Elemental Nations, showing eastern Fire Country, all of Water, and a little of southern Lightning Country. Just as Obscuro said, Water was made up of islands that all ringed a larger island.

"Do any of the islands have a murky beach?" he inquired.

The crew let out a laugh and Moustache replied "Yeah, almost all of them."

"Do any of them have limestone cliffs? A high number of them?"

Moustache didn't laugh this time and paused to think. Limestone in Water Country was rare, unused as it was. Not enough to form cliffs. However, …

He pointed to a small island on the southernmost point of the country. "That island, it's a small fishing town, usually uninterrupted by the war. I was there before and I saw some limestone there, more than the rest of the islands. A few cliffs maybe, but not a high number. But there could be more nearby. I can take you there and you can look for whatever it is you're looking for."

"Done. When do we leave?" Moustache and the rest cracked a smile.

"Dusk, with the high tide. A little before that if you want. There's a boat outside with the name _The Green Mizuchi_. Meet us there."

He reached out to grab the coins but the teen swiped them from the table and pocketed them back.

"You will receive pay when we arrive. I don't take chances."

Instead of being angry, Moustache cracked a smile. "You've got spunk kid, I like that. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Captain Takeo Tochimura and these are my men. What are your names?"

The dark-haired teen pointed to the children. "The blond is Naruto and she's Ajisai. I'm…Ryōshi _**(Hunter)**_."

Takeo and his men got up. "The ship will be ready in a couple of hours. Take your time, explore the town. Come find us when you're ready." They then left the bar, taking their bottles with them.

The teen turned to the two children, who seemed to still gaze at the table. "I trust that you have watched my interactions with them?" They nodded.

"Good, remember this when dealing with humans. When you make a deal, give them what they want, but don't hesitate to stand your ground. That way you can dictate terms and retain some measure of control. If you need to pay, make sure to pay after the job's been done."

With those words, the three headed out of the tavern side-by-side and out into the streets. As they looked at the town, Naruto spoke up.

"So…Ryōshi, huh? Kind of fits you, I suppose. By the way, just how are you able to do that?"

The disguised demon shrugged. "It came to me in the spur of the moment, but I can see what you mean by that. As for this form…there is much about me which you do not know, both of you. Perhaps if you are lucky and I am generous, I will tell you more about me one day."

Naruto and Ajisai pouted and crossed their arms. He couldn't help but smirk, it was so fun to annoy those two. _**'Come to think of it,'**_ he thought, _**'this is the first time I have had fun without slaughtering anyone. Heh, perhaps I can benefit from this little project more than I had originally hoped.'**_

He kept smirking as he glanced at the two. Maybe mess with them a little more?

"Do you know what happens to sailors who spend too much time at sea?"

 **-Obscuro-**

 **A little light-heartedness to compensate for last chapter.**

 **Check out my other story and my challneges!**

 **Happy Thanksgiving to you all and thak you for being with me on this journey!**

 **Read and Review! Review! REEEEEEEEEEEEVVIIIIIIIIEEEWWWW! Please?**


	13. Chapter 12 - The Driftwood Cathedral Pt1

**Chapter 12 – The Driftwood Cathedral Part 1**

I own nothing except my OCs

 **Could someone draw up some fanart for this fic? I appreciate it if you would!**

 **NOTE: From now on, Obscuro's default human form from the past 2 chapters will be referred to as Ryōshi, while the demon/shadow form will be referred to as Obscuro.**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto, Ajisai and Obscuro – no, Ryōshi – wandered the town for a few hours as they waited for the ship to be prepared. They checked out the local shops and stalls which, as expected of a port town, sold primarily travelling equipment and fish. They even purchased a couple of tools that the disguised demon thought that they would need.

The experience was somewhat ruined by Ryōshi's _extremely_ detailed descriptions of seasickness, scurvy and hallucinations, but halfway through the nauseating tales Naruto managed to tune out anything that he said.

From what it looked like, Ajisai had managed to do so too.

Anyway, after several hours of exploring and shopping (with a small stop for a meal along the way), Ryōshi decided it was time to head to the actual port and look for their ship. A few minutes of walking later, they managed to find the ship amongst the cluster of vessels that crowded the port.

It wasn't anything dingy, but it sure was no warship either. It had two masts, one shorter than the other, each adorning black, folding sails proportionate to the mast's height. The body of the ship was a little worn down, with closed cannon hatches aligning the hull. It was colored a very dark brown with blue and green markings adorning the ridges. On the bow of the ship, "The Green Mizuchi" was written in dark-green paint. Befitting the name, there was a figure of a mizuchi on the bowsprit.

"Hey, good to see you!" The captain, Takeo, called out from the deck, where all the crewmen could be seen doing last-minute preparations. "You ready to leave?"

"Yes, we are. May we come aboard?" asked Ryōshi. A large ramp was lowered onto the docks. The trio walked onboard the ship where Takeo stood waiting for them. He wore a short-sleeved brown shirt over a white shirt, his moustache lifting upwards with his smile.

"Welcome to The Green Mizuchi! This girl has been in a whole lot of tough situations, from storms to pirates. I'll have one of my men show you to your cabins."

"How long will this trip take?" Takeo scrunched his forehead in thought.

"With no interruptions, it should take us 4-5 days, maybe less if the wind is good. It would normally take us three days, but we need to maneuverer around any potential attack sites."

"Very well. Anything else?"

"Not really. If you want anything else during our little voyage, ask me." He called out to one of the crewmen, a large, burly man with a bandana and a blue shirt. The man rushed over to them.

"This is Date. He'll show you to your cabins." Ryōshi nodded and followed the large man to the back of the ship, the two children following him. They descended into the hall and wandered the corridors there until they reached a door. Date opened it to reveal a modest, nearly spartan room with four bunks, a window and a stool. He grunted and left the three.

"You two will take the bottom bunks. It will provide less of a hassle for you to get up that way." Ryōshi didn't need sleep, but if he would need to pretend, he would just take the top bunk. That way he could keep an eye on whoever entered the room.

Naruto and Ajisai each took a bunk, just like he said, before placing their scrolls on the blanket. They waited for a few minutes, looking over the cabin (not that there was much to look at), when they heard a few cries from up the deck and the clanking of a heavy chain, most likely the anchor.

"We're leaving port. I hope none of you get seasick," Ryōshi said with a smirk. The two kids just scowled at him. It was _his_ fault for making them think like that, dammit!

The ship rocked a bit as it started to turn away from the port. Within a few minutes, they were at sea.

As the boat sailed along the waters, Ryōshi started to feel odd. It was as though the inside of his body were shaking and stirring themselves around. He felt his connection to the shadows weaken as well; he could still feel it, but it was fainter than before. He went to sit down on Naruto's bunk when he heard snickering coming from the brats. He looked at them and saw that they were both muffling giggles from behind their hands, albeit Ajisai did a much better job of doing so.

The boat suddenly hit a wave and bumped, and Ryōshi held on to his stomach, something he had thought was impossible. He was a shadow-demon! Mere sickness could not affect him! Unfortunately, Naruto had burst into open laughter.

"W-what's wrong Ryōshi? Is the big bad shadow-demon a little seasick?" asked Naruto between laughs as he rolled on the bunk clutching his sides.

"Pfft. Mere sickness is beyond me. I am simply adjusting to the motions of this boat and trying to stabilize my powers," he growled. Naruto either didn't hear him or didn't care, because he was still laughing.

"If you do not shut up right now there will be no more lessons for the duration of this trip!" he hissed. Naruto immediately stopped laughing, although a large grin still sported his face.

"In regards to my previous statement, for some reason water disrupts my connection to the shadows. I cannot use my powers to their fullest efficiency while on a large source of water, and since the shadows are part of my being, they cause my form to feel uneasiness. But NOT sickness, that is for mortals."

' _Whatever you say'_ thought Ajisai as she rolled her eyes. "You were with Naruto in Ame, right? You didn't seem…destabilized then" she pointed out.

"Rain does not count. It has to be a large mass of water, not scattered like rain" he raised an eyebrow at them and flared up some shadows. "Anything else you would like to point out?" he asked with a slight edge to his tone.

The two quickly shook their heads. The shadows dissipated and Ryōshi grinned. "Good, I had a feeling it would be like that."

The trio settled into a comfortable silence as they lounged around the cabin, listening to the waves. The sun had set by now and the stars were showing themselves, dotting the night sky in a shower of flickering lights.

Ryōshi saw that there was an oil lamp on the stool. "Would one of you pull out a match?"

Naruto unsealed a matchbox from a scroll, lit one up and handed it to the teen who used it to light up the lamp and hung it on a nearby nail.

"Do any of you have questions about this journey?"

Naruto raised his hand and the teen nodded. "What made you think that whatever we're looking for is in Water Country of all places?"

"Two reasons: One, the drawing I saw in your vision – perfectly life-like, by the way – depicted a murky beach with grey sand. The only place I could think of with beaches like that was Water Country. Two, the crags depicted there had a very specific rock formation. I presume you all listened when I asked if there was any limestone in Water?" The two nodded. "Well, limestone is rather rare in that country, even if it isn't used much, if at all. So there had to be few sites where limestone would be present in such an abundant manner. From what the captain told us, this island that we are venturing to has limestone that could be present in the manner I have seen in your vision."

Ajisai raised her hand. "What if we don't find whatever it is we are looking for there?"

"I have several other places in mind that could fit the place's background description, so if we don't find anything we have several more options. But I hardly believe that will be the case."

"We're looking for that weird house, right? What do you think it is?"

"Based on your vision, that 'weird house' as you dub it is what was known as a cathedral; a rather large and ornate stone temple built for groups of large people, or for the filthy rich. It was used as a site for monotheistic worship and often served as a landmark for whatever town it resided in. To think that there would be one this far east is surprising. As for what it actually is…I do not truly know yet, and I hate making assumptions on relatively few facts."

"What do you think will happen now in the village?" asked Ajisai. Naruto's expression became troubled as he recalled the massacre that had happened literally in his front yard, as well as the victims…or rather, cause of said massacre.

' _Why? Why won't they just leave me alone? I didn't do anything to them. Do they hate the fox that much?'_

Ajisai saw his crestfallen expression and moved to apologize but Ryōshi raised his hand in a stopping gesture.

"As morose as that subject may seem to you Naruto, she's brought up an interesting point. If what I had observed about your Hokage for the past 2 years is true, while he may bend over to that "Konoha Council" of his, he has a soft spot for you. If you also factor in his expression from last night, then I believe he will try and prevent any of those miserable humans from getting their hands on you. People will start to ask questions, ones that demand answers. That's why I deemed it best that we leave for a time, so that we can avoid any future incidents that may arise."

Seeing that Naruto still looked crestfallen, he continued. "I told you before, they cannot and will not harm you. That is precisely the reason why I am training you; so that not them or anyone else will be able to harm you ever again."

The blond calmed down at that last statement. The fact that it was said with such confidence and with no doubt strengthened his resolve. _'That's right. I'm going to get strong. Strong to enough to kill anyone who tries to harm me or use me. I will not be the world's punching bag again!'_

He looked to Ajisai, whose greenish eyes stared back at him unflinchingly. _'Her too. People will try to harm me so they will try to harm her. I'll become strong enough to protect us both. I won't let them take what is mine!'_ he thought, unknowingly releasing a tiny growl.

Ajisai blinked at the noise that came from Naruto as he looked at her. Was it her imagination or did his eyes flash red for a moment there? "Uh Naruto, are you ok?"

Said boy blinked, shook himself and said "Y-yeah, it's nothing." He tried to steer the conversation away from the recent topic by asking "Hey Ryōshi, how can you do that? Turning into a human?"

Ryōshi chuckled and replied "As you probably know by now, my true form is made of shadow. As such, it can be molded however I see fit. This ability is more shapeshifting than transformation. By taking some human blood, I can morph into whoever that blood belonged to for a certain period of time."

"Then you can use someone's blood multiple times?"

"No, only one transformation for each time I take blood."

"Then what – "

"Oh this? This form is…special. That's all I'm willing to tell you for now."

Naruto pouted and took out a book. The trio fell into silence once more. Soon though, a knocking on the door was heard.

"Yes?"

"It's me, Captain Takeo. There's food in the mess hall if you're hungry."

Ryōshi looked at the children who nodded back. He got up and opened the door. "In that case, could you show us where it is?"

"Sure thing."

Takeo walked through the corridor with the trio following him. Eventually they arrived at a big room, with a large table, multiple seats and steam coming from an adjacent room. Seated at the table were most of the crewmen, numbering seven if you included the captain.

The trio and the captain all took empty seats with Takeo taking one at the head of the table. A few more minutes of muttering and waiting later, the cook came out with steaming plates of fish. Once all were served, they began to eat. After the first few bites, Takeo spoke up.

"So, Ryōshi was it? What would a teenager and two kids be going to Water Country of all places?"

"I am an…archaeologist and historian of sorts, and I am looking for lost artifacts and relics that have caught my interest. These two are my wards and apprentices, so I thought that this would be a new experience for them."

"Archaeologist? At your age?"

"If people become ninja at 12, who's to say that one can't become an archaeologist at a young age?"

"Touché. I know it's none of my business, but for curiosity's sake, what is it that you're hoping to find there?"

"According to my recent studies, there is a temple of sorts residing in an area that corresponds to that of Water's."

"What do you think is in there? Treasure?"

Ryōshi chuckled. "You could call it that…"

"I somehow get the feeling that we're thinking of two different things right now, are we?" Takeo asked wryly.

"One thing you should remember Captain, is that not all treasure is silver and gold."

"Oh? What else would it be then?" he asked as he propped his elbows on the table.

"Knowledge, Captain. Knowledge is a greater treasure than wealth."

Takeo raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"While wealth can supply you with ease and comfort, ultimately you become too reliant on it. You view it as a goal, you revolve your life around it when you fail to realize that it is nothing more than a tool, something to help you along your path; and when the time comes and you must fight for your life, you will find that all the material wealth in the world will not be able to save you.

Knowledge, however, is something that one can always rely on. You can use it to procure wealth, manage it, enrichen your spirit and prepare you for any troubles that may lie ahead. Through knowledge you gain understanding, through understanding you gain control, and through control you gain power. Knowledge can get you food, with the right knowledge you build a house. When your life is on the line, you can use the knowledge you have to save it and even triumph over your opponent. Even if you possess a weapon that was acquired by material wealth, you must study it, learn from it and understand it to use it. Without knowledge, a weapon is as good as a twig flying in the wind."

Silence reigned over the table as the two looked into each other's eyes, unwavering and refusing to back down. The crew gave Ryōshi befuddled expressions, although two of them had a small glint of understanding in their eyes.

Naruto and Ajisai had listened to the dialogue and were enraptured by it. Naruto himself strongly supported the disguised demon's way of thinking. Back when he had lived in the village, he had no money or really anything to call his own. As such, knowledge was the only thing he could acquire without the fear of having it taken from him. Money didn't help him survive, the knowledge he had acquired did; he had learned how to read and write all on his own, which streets to take to avoid being seen by the villagers, which stores he could steal from, etc.

Takeo had remained silent for a few minutes, his face expressionless. Then, he burst into a fit of laughter.

"Hahahahahaha! I like you even more kid! Not many have had the guts to argue with me like that before!" He managed to quell his laughter before resuming the conversation. "So, if I'm correct, then you follow the old saying of 'knowledge is power', right?" Ryōshi nodded.

"Well, how about 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely'? If someone has too much knowledge, wouldn't it make them big-headed and paint a target on their backs?"

"Like I said before, knowledge can be dangerous if you do not know how to properly use it. But that is the whole point of knowledge; by knowing things, you gain control and if you utilize that knowledge correctly, you can learn how to not let it get to your head."

"How so?"

"Proper knowledge is truth, and sometimes the truth can hurt. Knowledge can be distorted by people, corrupting it and be made into a lie. Finally, and believe is the most important one of them all, is that there are some things that are simply not meant to be learnt, at least not until a time when you are ready. Keep these rules in mind and the world's your oyster."

Takeo let out a small hum as he raised his eyes up in thought. He then went back to his food, as did the rest of the them.

Soon enough, plates were cleared and bellies were satisfied. Ryōshi thanked the crew and went to the cabin with the two kids. They sat themselves on their bunks and he stretched a bit.

"I trust that you all listened to that little dialogue?" They nodded. "Good. What I said about those rules is true. Don't let knowledge consume you lest you find yourself sinking into an abyss that you may never return from. Speaking of knowledge, I would advise you to observe the crew for the duration of this voyage and maybe ask a few questions about how to use a boat. Water-walking can only get you so far and is sometimes not optimal for long or dangerous trips."

He clapped and pointed to the bunks. "Now, I do believe that you need to sleep. No point in waking up exhausted early in the morning. Off you go."

The two pouted a little before conceding and climbing into their bunks. Ryōshi climbed to the bunk above Naruto's and got himself comfortable. He may not need sleep, but he could see why humans enjoyed it. Besides, if someone tried to sneak in, he would know.

With those thoughts in mind, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

 **-Obscuro-**

Naruto woke up to the bright sunlight that streamed through the window. He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed. Ajisai was still asleep and when he looked at the top bunk, he saw Ryōshi lying against the wall with his eyes closed. He heard footsteps from above him, indicating that the crewmen were awake and operating the ship.

Remembering the disguised demon's advice from the other night, he quietly opened the door and crept out into the hallway. He wandered around the corridors for a while, his thoughts flashing back to the dialogue between Ryōshi and Captain Takeo.

' _I wonder though,'_ he thought _'was he trying to tell me something? The last topic maybe? About those rules. Is he hiding something from me? If so, is he doing so because he thinks I'm not ready?'_

He tried to think of any possible thing that Ryōshi could be hiding from him, but unlike most situations where someone couldn't find anything that needed to be hidden, Naruto instead came up with too many possibilities that could be hidden from him. The shadow-demon was one walking mystery, after all.

He rummaged through the possibilities but eventually gave up. He sighed in irritation. _'Oh well, when he thinks I'm ready he'll tell me. His judgment hasn't failed me before.'_

He then found himself standing in front of a ladder that upwards. He climbed up and found himself on the deck of the ship. The crew were scattered around the deck, some pulling ropes or gazing at the sea. He marched to deck's center where two of the men saw him and nodded before going back to their jobs.

The blond child observed the men and looked around the deck before stopping at the sight of the captain, his hands on the wheel and his eyes forward. If he was going to learn how to sail a ship, then he was Naruto's best bet.

He walked up stairs to the ship's bridge and the captain turned to face him with a surprised expression on his face. All the while his hands never leaving the wheel.

"You're up. What do you want, kid?" Takeo asked.

"I was just looking at how you work this ship. You seem very good."

A fond smile came over Takeo's face as his gaze drifted back to the wheel. "Of course I'm good. I've been sailing this beauty for ten good years. No one knows how to sail her better than I."

"Did you travel to a lot of places?"

"Sure have. From the rocky sea-cliffs of Lightning to the marshes of Water, I think I've travelled most of the eastern coastline. I know all the good ports, the best landing sites and most importantly, the places you should avoid."

"Avoid?"

"Yeah. Rapids, rocky archipelagos, hostile places. All of these places can wind up as a ship's graveyard."

"Did you see any new places?"

Takeo raised an eyebrow at that question. "Depends on what you call new, kid. For a sailor, every port they make can be considered new. No matter if you come back there several times, something is always different."

That was new to Naruto. Every time it seemed different?

Takeo must've seen something on Naruto's expression, because he continued. "But if you're talking about places where few people have ever gone, I did have a few experiences where I stumbled upon a cove or cave where no-one has been to. I even stumbled upon some ruins once."

Naruto perked his head up. "Ruins?"

"Heh-heh. That's right, you're apprenticed to an archaeologist, aren't you? Yeah, I was on a return voyage after making a small delivery when I got caught up in a whirlpool. It shook my ship good, but I managed to sail past it and I found myself in front of some really old ruins."

"What kind?"

"It looked like a village, one of those ninja villages, except that there was nothing but rubble there. I stayed for a day or two to patch up the ship and I sailed out of there. I never did see those ruins again though, and I've gone through that route several times since then." Naruto noted that his tone changed when he said "ninja", but he couldn't tell what to make of it.

"Where was it exactly?"

"I would say it was a little to the northeast of Fire Country. Couldn't really tell."

Naruto's curiosity grew even more. A ruined ninja village, just off Fire Country? Imagine what he could find there! He had to tell Ryōshi when he could.

He remembered his original purpose though, and stayed put. He tried to think of something else to ask when he remembered Takeo's momentarily change of tone.

"Do you have anything against ninja?"

Takeo tilted his head to side, thinking for a bit. Eventually he sighed and said, "I just think that people are over-reliant on them. I understand that they've always been around and that they serve a purpose, but it seems like they have too much power and think that they can do whatever they want."

Naruto wanted to ask more, but he saw that the subject was making Takeo uncomfortable, so he switched subjects. He pulled out his notebook and asked:

"How does a boat work?"

He must've asked the right question because the captain launched into a long, detailed explanation about a ship's parts, maintenance, rationing, etc. All the while Naruto wrote down whatever he said.

At some point, Ajisai and Ryōshi came up to the deck. The purple-haired girl joined in the lecture while the disguised demon just lounged around, away from the ship's ridges to Naruto's observation. When they were done, Naruto knew nearly everything about how to steer a boat with a wheel.

The next three days passed by in a similar fashion; Naruto or Ajisai would wake up and head out to the deck, where they would either observe or inquire the crew about their travels or ask for instructions in how to maintain a boat. All the while, Ryōshi would either listen in or lazily lounge around. They would sometimes spar a bit on the deck of the ship, and sometimes the crew spectated and gave them comments about their fighting. The rest of the time they played some of the games that the sailors played like Liar's Dice or cards (no actual betting though). During the evening everyone would descend to the mess hall and eat some fish or bird. Then, the trio would go back to their cabins and read for a little bit before going to sleep.

As the days passed by, the landscape changed as well; the sky became cloudier and mist became more frequent. Eventually the sea had grown completely dark, a heavy fog loomed over the waters and it was only thanks to Takeo and his crew that they were able to know if they were still on course. Sharp rocks sometime jutted out of the waters, making for hazardous obstacles along the watery path. Of course, they were all successfully avoided thanks to Takeo's superb sailing skills, but that was beside the point.

When Ajisai asked if they had intentionally sailed into the fog, Takeo had replied:

"Only an idiot would sail into open waters in such a powder keg of a territory, missy."

On the fifth and final day, at around roughly noon, they had arrived at an area where the fog lessened a bit. Up on the horizon Naruto could see the outline of an island approaching them.

"We're gonna arrive there soon ladies and gents! Just a little further!" Takeo called out.

As they approached the island, Naruto could see stone pillars protruding from the waters like silent sentinels, guarding the island against any who wished to approach. The _Mizuchi_ passed by one up-close, and Naruto saw that the rock was shaped in a pattern of lines.

"That is limestone." Ryōshi said as he suddenly appeared near the blond. "I am getting surer at what I have said at the beginning of this voyage; we will find what we seek here."

Soon enough, they arrived at the island. They docked at a small boardwalk where they could see a town hidden in the mist.

"We're here. Welcome to Kakuri Port," said Takeo.

The trio and the captain waited as the men lowered the ramp on the docks. They descended and Takeo addressed Ryōshi. "We're gonna stop here for supplies and a break. If you can catch us before we leave, we'll give you a ride back."

Ryōshi nodded and handed the man the pouch of coins. "Thank you. You have assisted me greatly. I hope that we meet again."

Takeo smiled. "Anytime, and good luck at finding what you're looking for. Try maybe asking at the tavern." With those words, the trio headed out into the town.

Kakuri was similar to the port back in Fire Country, only that the houses were smaller and were more worn-down. The locals also seemed hardier, going about their business with tensed bodies and they gazed at the newcomers with suspicion. Their gazes were promptly ignored.

They soon reached a tavern, just like Takeo said. "Stick close to me" Ryōshi warned the children "We don't wish to attract any unnecessary attention."

They entered the tavern where they were greeted with cautious gazes, like the ones back in the streets. Unlike the previous tavern, this one didn't feel comforting or possessed a pleasant atmosphere; here, it was as though everyone was walking along a razor's edge.

"Now pay attention," whispered Ryōshi. "The place we are looking for is most likely mystical or supernatural in nature, so there has to be a story or two around here."

The teen walked to the bar where an old man sat, reading from a book. "Excuse me sir, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions."

The old man put his book down and looked at the stranger. "You asked one already, but ask away sonny. You're not from around here, are ya?"

"No, I'm not. I was wondering if there are any legends or folktales from this island."

"Well, there aren't that many, but there's the one about the Sailor's Wife, the Flying Fish, the – "

"I'm actually referring to any stories that involve disappearances or mirages."

The old man gave him a suspicious look. "Why are you asking this sonny? You have a point to all o' this?"

Ryōshi sighed and reached into his cloak. After finding what he needed, he pulled his hand, now a fist, back out and on the table. The old man looked at the fist intently, then grabbed a towel and set it near the fist. "Bar's dirty. Can't have that." Ryōshi carefully slipped the coin in his fist to the towel, ensuring that no one would see it. The old man discreetly grabbed the coin with the towel and slid it to his other hand.

"Well, now that you mention it…" he said with a thoughtful tone "…there is a story that goes around some of the fishermen here. When the evening mist rolls in, they go into the water with their boats and nets, hoping to catch some of the bigger ones. There are a few times when some of the fishermen wander a little to the east and get lost in the fog. They don't come back 'till morning, but when they do, they say that they saw a beach with a large, stone house. They try to get to the house, but the boat always seems to travel in the opposite direction."

"Has anyone tried looking for this house?" Ryōshi asked with an emotionless expression on his face.

"A couple of times. We circled the whole island and then some, but we found no such house."

"Is there anyone that's seen this house that you know?"

"Yeah, Kaigara. He runs a grocery stall just down the street. He's seen that house twice already."

"Hmm. Thank you." Ryōshi got up and headed for the exit. Naruto shortly followed him. Just before he opened the door though, the old man asked, "You wanna look for that house, sonny?"

Ryōshi turned to the old man and replied, "I like old stories." With that, he exited the bar, with Naruto and Ajisai following him.

They walked down the street, ignoring the constant suspicious looks. For Naruto it was a bit unsettling, since their stares were like the Konoha villagers' stares, albeit with more curiosity than hatred.

They arrived at a grocery stall, just like the old man said. Standing behind various vegetables was middle-aged man with a small stubble on his chin, brown eyes and dark-blue hair. "What can I get you?" he asked.

"Are you Kaigara the fisherman?" asked Ryōshi.

"That's my name, why?"

"I was hoping you could help me with something." Kaigara gave him an apprehensive look before motioning him to come behind the stall. Ryōshi looked down to Naruto. "Stay here," he ordered, then walked to the back of the stall.

Naruto and Ajisai waited for a few minutes as the teen and the fisherman talked. He tried to eavesdrop but they must have been talking in whispers, because he couldn't hear zilch.

Ryōshi soon walked out of the stall with a satisfied expression on his face and a grin. "I have good news. While he cannot take us there, Kaigara-san can lend us a rowboat so we can try looking for the cathedral tonight."

"So, is that house the one from Naruto's dream?" asked Ajisai.

Ryōshi's grin stretched. "Undoubtedly."

"But how do we even know that we'll find the place?" asked Naruto. After all, only a few fishermen actually saw the place.

"Leave that to me…" replied the teen in a mysterious tone. Naruto's eye twitched in irritation. Why did he have to act so mysterious, dammit!

The trio headed out to explore the island a little until the evening rolled in. The town of Kakuri was largely unimpressive and drab, if not depressing. The constantly grey sky didn't help in that regard either. The locals still looked at them with suspicion, although they did seem to soften their gazes as time passed. The forest behind Kakuri wasn't very impressive either, and Naruto's only interest in it were the two new herbs he had found there.

Five or six hours later, the sky darkened. The fishermen all started to prepare for the evening fishing. Boats were pulled out, nets and fishing rods were checked over, and empty buckets were swung around – all hoping to have at least a few fish by midnight. The two kids stood by a small boat with a lantern while Ryōshi conversed with Kaigara.

"I don't know why are you looking for that place. I get the creeps just by remembering it," said the fisherman with a grimace.

"I told you before, Kaigara-san, I am looking for something that might be found there," replied Ryōshi.

Kaigara just looked at the teen and sighed. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." He pointed to the fog that began rolling from the east. "Row into that fog and move around a little bit. If you're lucky, you'll feel this weird sensation in your gut, like you missed a step and you're falling to the ground. If you feel that, then you should see the place shortly after."

Ryōshi bowed his head and said, "Thank you," before jumping aboard the rowboat. He gestured to the children and they jumped aboard too. Ryōshi grabbed the two oars at the bottom, set them in the water and began paddling.

Naruto gave him a confused stare. "You know how to row?"

"Yes, I paid attention to the lessons from the _Mizuchi_ 's crewmen and I have more than sufficient muscular strength to perform this task. Now look ahead and navigate" he replied with an impatient tone. Probably another sign that he didn't like water.

"Fine, fine. Sheesh," muttered Naruto. He looked to the horizon as Ryōshi kept rowing closer and closer to the fog.

' _This is ridiculous,'_ he thought. _'What kind of places exists in a cloud of mist?'_

 **(Bloodborne OST – Hunter's Dream)**

As he kept thinking about the absurdity of the situation, the fog slowly swallowed the boat until they could no longer see the lights from Kakuri. All that Naruto could see was a black cloud all around him and the boat with its occupants in the light of the lantern. What was disturbing though, was something that Ajisai pointed out.

"The water. It's gone quiet."

Naruto turned to Ryōshi to ask what now, but he saw the disguised demon closing his eyes and began muttering something under his breath. Black shadow suddenly started to seep from the teen's body, forming a faint silhouette of Obscuro.

"Naruto? What's happening?" asked Ajisai.

But Naruto didn't answer. How could he when he didn't know himself?

As Ryōshi kept chanting, the black fog slowly shifted around them. Naruto inwardly started to panic. What the hell was going on!?

Suddenly, he felt as though he had stumbled. The fog began getting lighter and the sky seemed to brighten, although back to the day's cloudy grey. _'Just like that fisherman said.'_

Ryōshi opened his eyes and said with an emotionless tone: "We have arrived."

The boat began to move again, but to Naruto's astonishment, Ryōshi wasn't rowing at all. The fog began slowly dissipating until a familiar sight was laid in front of Naruto's slack-jawed gaze: the building – cathedral – from his vision.

It looked just like the one in the white figure's book; age-worn stone towers flanking the mysterious symbol, trees climbing out of the windows and onto the ground, fallen trees and large pieces of driftwood lying on the ashen-grey sand surrounded by dark, rocky cliffs. The only difference was that there was no cloaked figure hovering nearby, or anywhere for that matter.

The boat slowly drifted towards the beach. All the while Naruto looked at the scenery with growing tension in his gut. What were they hoping to accomplish by finding this place?

He felt the boat stop and looked down to see sand. They had finally arrived. The trio got out of the boat and surveyed the area; Naruto had a worried expression, Ajisai looked confused, while Ryōshi…clutched his chest and fell down on one knee.

"Ryōshi!" the blond called out as he moved to hold the teen. "Hey? What's wrong?" The teen didn't answer though, and Naruto was about to shake him when the teen melted into a pool of shadow. He moved back, startled, but immediately the shadowy form of Obscuro rose from the pool.

The shadow-demon just gazed at the cathedral with his glowing red eyes. He then pointed to the two large doors at its entrance.

Naruto looked to Ajisai who just shrugged. "We've come this far, haven't we?" With that resolved, the trio marched to the entrance (or in Obscuro's case, floated). They reached the two doors and Naruto raised his fist to knock. But before he had the chance to, the doors swung open outwardly. Gulping, Naruto attempted to strengthen his resolved and entered, his two companions behind him.

He entered a large hallway, flanked by tall pillars and rows of wooden benches. Extremely faint light streamed from large glass windows, dying the whole chamber in an eerie grey glow. Large stone arches decorated the ceiling. Small statues and shrines were laid in aisles at the far walls of the cathedral. An altar stood at the far end of the hall, with a large statue behind it. As Naruto moved closer to the altar, he began to make out the statue's features; a hooded and cloaked figure with no face and two large, feathered wings holding a sword in its bony hands.

Naruto found himself facing the statue. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but the statue terrified him. It was as though the stone figure was about to flap its wings and behead him in one fell swoop. Looking at the altar, he saw that it had the mysterious symbol carved onto it: a circle with two opposing spikes.

He reached out and touched it, only to feel the stone engraving. He turned to Ajisai and Obscuro and shrugged. "I don't see anything. Maybe we should – "

Suddenly, he felt very light-headed. The world started to fade around him and he felt as though he was sinking. He got down on the floor slowly clutching his aching head. He tried to speak, but no sound came out. He could barely make out Ajisai's form rushing towards him and calling his name. He tried holding out, but failed.

Then, he saw darkness.

 **-Obscuro-**

 **Ta-da! New chapter! Cliffhanger, too!**

 **What do you think of the dialogue between Takeo and Ryōshi? The scene when the cathedral appears?**

 **Go check out my other stories and challenges and vote on my poll!**

 **Read and Review. Review. RRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVIIIIIIEEEEEEWWWW!**

 **Please?**


	14. Chapter 13 - The Driftwood Cathedral Pt2

**Chapter 13 – The Driftwood Cathedral Part 2**

I own nothing except my OCs

 **Could someone draw up some fanart for this fic? I appreciate it if you would!**

 **The theme that should be played for this chapter, and any scene with the Tree or the Cathedral from here on out, will be "Hunter's Dream" – Bloodborne. Play it on loop if you must.**

 **Read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome!**

" " – human speech/writing

' ' – _human thought_

 _ **' ' – demon thought**_

 **" " – demon speech**

 **-Obscuro-**

It was quiet.

Despite the unusual and entrancing landscape, there was not a sound to be heard. Not the rustling of leaves, nor the blowing of wind reverberated through the air. The large tree's branches and leave remained still, as they have always been. The white clouds kept rolling around it, thick and large as thunderclouds. Yet no drop of rain or sound of thunder was seen or heard, as though an artist has painted the whole scene onto reality itself, leaving it unchanging and eternal, untouched by time.

All was quiet, except the sound of pages turning. Every minute, a page could be heard turning over, echoing throughout the hill.

The white being floated near the base of the tree, its papery wings rippling silently as though an invisible wind struck them. It did little but merely gaze at its book as the pages turned. They were sometimes blank, sometimes filled with words, other times inscribed with simple drawings; each page its own story. What was interesting though, was the fact that even though it Knew, no story ever seemed to wear itself out, no piece of knowledge seemed repetitive or dull. Everything it knew was as old as time and fresh and entrancing as a snowflake up-close; nothing was exactly the same. Patterns may repeat themselves, yet in those patterns there was always something new, something different from before.

What an unusual and confounding paradox.

A page turned, revealing a drawing of a familiar sight, one that has appeared recently, a pattern starting anew. As the white being gazed at the page, seemingly infinite thoughts flowing through its mind, a flowing, clear voice rang out from its right.

"This is truly like you, isn't it?"

It turned to the direction of the voice, knowing fully well who its source was. Floating cross-legged below one of the large branches of the tree was a being with blue skin and four arms. Two of its arms, human in appearance, rested on its knees in a meditative position, with the tips of the thumbs touching their respective hand's index finger. A black cloth with white, marble-like linings draped over its legs and lower chest. An inversely-colored cloth – white with black marble linings – was draped over its shoulders and fell to its crossed feet. Its head and face were a blank grey – no features appeared on it, just like the rest of its kind. Its other two arms were of a darker blue and appeared as though made up of twisting metallic coils. One arm rested lazily across its chest while the other held aloft a large brazier that held a raging blue flame. The flame danced upwards in the brazier, sometimes licking the branch above yet never burning it.

The two featureless faces gazed at each other for a few minutes before the white being returned to its book. "What if it is?"

"Your nature is unavoidable, that is absolute. You are one of the farthest from Creation, yet you are drawn to it more than any of us. You do not need their knowledge – that is what you are. Nevertheless, you are drawn to them, you peer and study their thoughts as though it was the most valuable treasure in existence." There was an unspoken question in that statement, but it was not asked because the answer was already known.

The white being raised a finger and pointed up to a branch. "One can observe a tree and be continually entranced by the dancing of its leaves, even though he knows that they will fall. One can gaze at a mountain and be eternally fascinated by the shadows that it forms on the earth as the sun travels through the sky, even though he knows that their patterns will never change. I know the causes, the desires, the wants and needs for their thoughts and actions. Yet each time, there is always a deeper reason, a different cause, a changing level of need for said actions. They have a flow, a changing rhythm that I - for all my knowledge – lack. That is the most entrancing and confounding thing about them."

"You are…content…every time they learn from every action, every experience they undertake. For all their fleeting and fragile selves, their polar acts, they embody what has been Bestowed upon them." There was no accusation or question in its tone; there was no need for it.

"Indeed."

Silence reigned over the hill for some time, the two beings floating in their respective positions, neither of them so much as twitching. Eventually, the blue being floated downwards and lowered its brazier.

"We have felt a ripple, a changing in the winds that has not been felt for ages. The others have listened to it, felt it, yet they cannot find its source. Some of them might already know why or what, yet the others are growing cautious; as though the door has been opened by an unknown key, or something has slipped in through a crack in the window. All of them, knowing or not, do not know what to make of this." The blue flames settled in the brazier, shapes forming in the mystifying light.

"As a whole, they do not believe it is disconcerting, yet they are growing intrigued. A few have noticed your wandering thoughts and are curious to know what is it that causes you to waver from your post."

"I have not wavered from my duty. I have felt this ripple too; my curiosity is piqued by it. I know what caused it, and I might be partially to blame. It does not need to worry them" the white being said with a mere sliver of decisiveness in its tone.

The blue being merely floated in its place, the flames changing into a new shape, one familiar to the white being. "Do you think it shall turn out like last time? How do you believe it will turn out?"

"That is the beauty of it; I know that events will flow as they have done before, yet the outcome is hidden from my sight. It is the one fragment of knowledge that I have failed to reach; all I am doing is waiting for the outcome to be known to me." Another moment of silence passed between the two beings, one not tinged with suspicion or accusation, but one filled with confirmation and undeniability.

The blue-skinned being raised the brazier high above its head. The blue flames started to erupt wildly from it as said being's form shimmered and started evaporating into the brazier. Already half of its body disappeared when the book-holding being asked, "The others…they do not wish to confront me about this?"

"No. They are merely curious or intrigued; they will not come with any demands or accusations. Every word I have spoken describes the situation perfectly. Besides, I would not be able to hide such things from you. After all…" the being said as it faded away into the air, leaving a blue wisp in its place. Its final words echoed throughout the hill and reverberated, like a tolling bell.

"…all I know is Truth."

 **-Obscuro-**

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Naruto awoke to the sound of dripping water. His eyes were welcomed to the view of a dark, stone corridor. The floor was covered in water and dimly-lit torches adorned the walls.

"What…what's going on? Where am I?" he asked as he rubbed his head. "I remember that we were in that cathedral…then I touched the altar…but…"

He was broken from his thoughts when he felt a breeze coming from up ahead. He tried to see further into the corridor, but despite the torches, it was too dark to see. Deciding to look for an exit, the young blond headed down the corridor. As he kept walking, he noticed strange markings were starting to appear on the walls. They were mostly faded, as though they were drawn by the tip of a brush, even smeared, yet Naruto recognized one of the scribbles.

It looked suspiciously like a ritual circle.

He tried to see what it was, but the mark was too faded. After a minute of trying, he scowled and moved on.

Soon enough, he entered a large stone chamber, with numerous inscriptions lining the walls. In front of him was a massive barred gate with a piece of paper with the kanji for "seal" slapped on the center. The most unnerving thing however, was the massive presence that he felt emanating from the gate.

He took a few steps closer to try and see what was in the gate, but when he did, a rumbling sound echoed throughout the chamber. He stopped in his tracks and looked around to try and see what was happening. When his gaze returned to the gate, he saw a massive form shift and approach him. When the rumbling stopped, Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

Sitting in front of him was an enormous red fox with silted red eyes and massive, razor-sharp teeth bared in a growl. Behind it, nine tails lay on the floor. Naruto didn't need to think for more than a second to realize who this creature was. "Kyuubi."

" **Of course. At last we meet, human,"** the fox replied.

Naruto tilted his head as he kept looking at the demon. "If you are here, then this place…is the seal?"

The demon nodded. "How did I end up here?"

" **A few minutes ago, I felt the connection between us clear up, enough so that I could pull you down here. I must say, you do not look impressive."**

Naruto inwardly bristled at the comment, although he knew it to be somewhat true. "Why am I here?"

" **I have grown curious about you. This seal allows me to access all of your memories and thoughts and I must say…you are an interesting vessel. You were one even before the living ink-stain came into your life."**

Naruto's eye widened a fraction as he realized about who Kyuubi was talking about. ' _Ink-stain though?'_ he thought. ' _I should remember that.'_ He raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean by 'interesting?'"

' _Also, why do demons use that word a lot?'_

" **You do not resent me for ruining whatever life you could have had. You accept the company of another demon as if though it was your own kin,"** the Kyuubi drawled. **"Even before your meeting, you were always intent on gathering knowledge, always trying to find a way to evade your pursuers."**

The fox shifted in its place before continuing to speak. **"The other reason that I called you here is in regards to your…newfound activities with the ink-stain."**

"You mean rituals? What about them?"

" **My previous containers were…rather rude and only demanded my chakra for battle. As the ink-stain has taught you, your little rituals run on life-force. Now I will admit to having practically no knowledge about such arts, but I do know the mechanisms behind life-force, albeit to a limited extent. What he maybe didn't tell you is that demons or chakra beasts like me do not have what could be called a proper life-force. In my case, I am mostly made of pure chakra."**

Naruto understood where the beast was going with this. "You don't want me to use your chakra when performing rituals. Why?"

" **As I have said, I have grown tired of people demanding my chakra. So, I wish to make a deal with you: You will not barge in here demanding my chakra and in return, I won't try to control your body."**

Naruto was a bit startled at the simplicity and somewhat unrelated nature of the request. Seeing the question in the child's eyes, the Kyuubi said:

" **I am not just doing this out of a personal want, I am doing this a preventive. From what I have learnt from your memories, rituals have a very specific method of working, and it all starts with your life-force. Should you draw on my chakra when performing a ritual, the results could be catastrophic."**

The young Uzumaki mentally reviewed that fact and agreed. Obscuro had drilled into his head that rituals had to be performed to the letter (or symbol). But a question still nagged at his mind.

"Why are you telling me all of this? If I would die, then you be free right?"

" **When it comes to your little rituals, there is too much uncertainty in regards to my survival. Like I said before, I find you interesting. You are perhaps the only container who is going down a path that I cannot guess or predict its end. I wish to see what you will become, that is all. The learning experience helps too."**

Naruto mulled over the reason given to him and decided that while it was unusual, it didn't seem very suspicious. He would still keep an eye out for any trouble from the fox.

' _To be honest, I'm actually rather excited about this,'_ Naruto thought _. 'A being who's lived for that long must have learnt a lot of things in its life. Imagine the things I could learn from it. Is it even an 'it'? What was it like before the villages were established?'_

He was broken from his inner thoughts (again) when he heard a small yet deep chuckling coming from the fox. Naruto guessed that he must've had an excited expression on his face when thinking about those question and blushed.

"S-sorry," he stammered. "It's just that...could I come here in the future to ask you more questions?"

 **"Ha-ha!"** Kyuubi barked. **"Ever the knowledge seeker, are you? Yes, as long you don't disturb me often, you can come here to ask me about my supreme knowledge. Now however, I suggest that you leave. Your companion is getting worried."**

Naruto then remembered that to Ajisai and Obscuro, he fainted after he touched the altar. He tried and failed to find an exit in the room when Kyuubi said, **"Do not panic. Just close your eyes and focus on the real world; that should wake you up."**

Naruto calmed down and did as the Kyuubi instructed him. He closed his eyes and focused on mental images of Ajisai, the Forest House and other things from back home. He felt his consciousness fade again and soon saw darkness.

Back in the seal, it appeared to the Kyuubi as though Naruto's form had rippled and vanished from sight. The tailed beast closed his eyes and pondered on the deal it just made.

 **"What an interesting vessel,"** it said. **"Unusual and unpredictable maybe, but still rather interesting. If what I have seen is true, it is most likely that ink-stain will come here to visit. I wonder how that will turn out..."**

 **-Obscuro-**

 _A few minutes earlier..._

"Naruto! Naruto!" Ajisai yelled at the blond in her hands as she shook him to try and wake him up, but to no avail. She turned to Obscuro with a panicked expression. "What happened to him!?"

She was about to try and wake the blond up again when she felt a pebble flick her forehead. She calmed down a bit and turned to Obscuro, though the girl still held Naruto in her arms.

"Remain calm. Panicking will do you no good; I have taught both of you better than that," Obscuro wrote on his board (which had of course, appeared from nowhere).

Ajisai took a deep breath and let her mind focus again. She kept looking at the shadow-demon and asked, in a much calmer tone this time, "What happened to Naruto? In fact, what happened to _you_? You were in human form before we landed but then you just…melted back into your demon form."

"As a collective answer to both of your questions, I am not completely sure yet what exactly happened. However, when our boat left the fog, I felt this unusual energy in the air. This feeling only intensified when we disembarked the boat and stepped foot on the beach. At this point, it was as though something…weakened my hold on my human form and forced me to revert back to this state. Not that I'm complaining; human form is such an annoyance to deal with," wrote Obscuro.

Ignoring the verbal jab at humans, Ajisai kept asking. "You think that whatever this…energy…is, it made Naruto collapse? What did it feel like and why am I not affected?"

"In order: Yes, I believe that it made Naruto faint by weakening the seal that is holding his prisoner." Ajisai nodded. She knew of Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki from the day that she decided to stay with him, but out of politeness she had never breached the topic.

"It isn't loosening," Obscuro wrote. "Rather, from what I am sensing from the seal, it seems as though our blond ignoramus was invited to a chat with the demon fox. He should be fine in a few minutes. To answer your second question, I cannot properly describe this feeling, since I am not good with such things due to my nature and the elusiveness of the feeling itself. The closest thing I can relate it to is a sort of…commanding presence, one that seems to unravel any sort of lies that it feels. In my case, my shadow form and in Naruto's case his seal. As to how were you not affected, that is simple: unlike me and Naruto, you do not have any sort of demonic or hidden manifestation, hence why you felt nothing."

Ajisai took a moment to digest that information and looked down at Naruto's sleeping face, which was cradled in her hand. He didn't exhibit any signs of discomfort, so he must be OK. Rather, his sleeping expression was rather calm, the opposite of what she had seen during the first night of the voyage, which was an expression of fright and anxiety. She didn't like seeing that expression on his face, after all that he been through and done for her.

She was awoken from her musings when she heard Obscuro writing again. She looked back up and saw the new message: "How far are you willing to go for the boy?"

A bit confused at the question, she asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, what is he to you? What will you be willing to do for his sake?"

Ajisai thought for a moment, mulling the question over in her head, before replying. "He is the first person, ever since my parents died, to show me some form of affection. He saved my sanity, and possibly my life when most people would just look away or back down. Both of us have a lot of things in common, but we have different views as well which makes him all the more fascinating to be around. He's the best friend I ever had, which is just a plus for him since I have only known him for several months." She looked down at the young Uzumaki with a soft look in her eyes, but then looked back up and asked in a slightly demanding tone:

"Why are you asking 'what will you be willing to do for his sake?'"

Obscuro's shadowy claws kept clutching the piece of chalk for a few good seconds. Then, he put the chalk to the board and wrote, but he seemed to write with a hint of carefulness in his movements.

"Naruto has set on a path that will pit him against many foes, some due to his condition, and others due to what he will do in the future. But the enemy that he will struggle most against is _himself._ The doors he has opened have been opened before, and they have dragged many men into the abyss of forbidden knowledge, leading them to insanity and other such conditions. My proper question to you is:

Will you stand beside Naruto to the very end, even if he will do something that would be considered unforgivable by most?"

Ajisai was stupefied by the question she was presented with. The purple-haired girl tried to formulate an answer in her mind, but she just couldn't. A big part of her still felt extremely indebted to Naruto for saving her and taking her in, so abandoning him seemed out of the question. Who else would she even go to? On the other hand, Obscuro had taught both her and Naruto to think for themselves and not blindly follow instructions; always question and weigh the consequences of what you are about to do.

' _Could do it? Could I really abandon Naruto in favor of my own morals? Even though I have no one else? Even though what he might do would be wrong?'_

She sat there, cradling the unconscious blond as she kept thinking long hard. Obscuro just stood(?) there, silently observing her. The dark hall of the cathedral loomed in the background, seemingly getting bigger in her eyes, as though the halls responded to the enormity of the question that she had to answer. After a short while, she lifted her gaze to the shadow-demon.

"I..."

But whatever she might have had to say was cut short by the sound of Naruto groaning and stirring from his sleep. She quickly dropped her conversation and looked down at the boy with a worried expression.

"Ugh...what's going on?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes and sat up. Ajisai let out a relieved breath.

"You touched the altar and fainted. Obscuro said not to worry though. Are you hurt?" She asked, looking him over.

"N-no I'm fine. It's just that I... had a strange chat with my prisoner," replied Naruto.

"Oh, just like he said." At hearing that, Naruto turned to look at Obscuro, who just wrote: "I had my suspicions. What exactly happened there?"

Naruto then relayed to his companions his experience waking up in the cell and his chat with the Kyuubi. The two listened with rapt attention, Obscuro more than Ajisai surprisingly.

In turn, Obscuro submitted his thoughts about his forced reversion and Naruto's fainting, though (thankfully to Ajisai) he kept his talk with her a secret. After the exchange of information, Naruto looked around the main hall with a questioning glance. "So...what now?"

"Now," Obscuro wrote, "we do a little exploration of this place. We have no knowledge as to what it exactly is beyond its basic architecture, so 'knowing the terrain' so to speak, will help us in this venture."

He pointed a claw to the left side of the hall where a large door was placed. "Naruto, you will go through that door and Ajisai will go through the right door. That way we can cover ground faster. I suspect that these two paths will meet up, so don't worry about being separated for too long."

Naruto just sighed, got up and went to the door. He turned around to see that Ajisai had already went to the other door and had turned around too. Their gazes met and they nodded before each opening their respective door. Taking a breath, Naruto stepped in.

There really wasn't anything interesting at first glance. He had entered another, smaller hallway that turned a sharp right and went on for a good distance. As he headed down the hallway though he noticed, that in culverts that were carved along the walls, were statues of uniform size. Those statues were very similar to the ones in the main hallway, albeit smaller. What was interesting about those statues were what they depicted: The all had some human features, like hands or feet, but they also possessed some unusual attributes, especially regarding their heads, for example; one had a crow's head and another had a cloth around its head. Some of their faces even had no features at all.

But the most disconcerting detail that the blond had made out as he kept walking down the corridor was this: They had a faint resemblance to the white being he had seen in his visions.

The corridor took another sharp right and the young Uzumaki found himself in a section that had, just as Obscuro had predicted, another corridor leading to it, which was most likely the one Ajisai took. True enough, he heard footsteps and Ajisai came out with a puzzled expression, looking at the ceiling.

She met his gaze and nodded, prompting Naruto to look around a bit more. To his left was a small walkway that must've led to a back section of the cathedral, seeing as at the end the path forked. To his right however, was a smaller door placed on a pillar-like bulge on the wall.

Obscuro then appeared (still in full shadow-demon form) from behind Ajisai and surveyed the section with his glowing red eyes. When his gaze landed on the small door, he flicked a claw in a snapping motion and it opened. Peering inside, Naruto was greeted to the sight of a staircase that went both up and down.

Ajisai walked over and peeked in too, her gaze going up and down the stairs. "Let's try heading up. I think it leads to the towers we saw on the beach." Naruto simply motioned her forward, and she ascended the staircase with the two following her.

The stairs didn't creak, as they were carved from stone, but they were rather large so it took a big step to climb them. They soon reached the top of the stairs where another door greeted them. Thankfully, Obscuro pushed it open.

Unfortunately for Ajisai, they hadn't entered the towers like she thought. Instead, they entered a small room dominated by a large device, with massive pipes at the back and four keyboards at its front. A table and a chair, along with several other open pipes decorated the room with a small window at the cieling. Naruto entered the room and approached the device, his hand slightly raised to touch the keyboard. He stopped himself though, and turned back to Ajisai's direction, only to see Obscuro write down, "It's fine. This is an instrument used in such places called an organ. It is basically a grand and menacing version of a piano. Go ahead and touch it."

The blond returned his gaze to the now-named organ and gulped. _'Here goes,'_ he thought. He leaned forward and pressed a few keys with his fingers. Suddenly, a loud bellow came from the pipes, startling Naruto and making him remove his fingers as though he was stung. The sound ended immediately after he did, though the echoes lingered briefly. He shot a nasty glare at the shadow-demon, who had just written: "Fascinating, no? It is my favorite human instrument."

Naruto sighed in exasperation, mentally berating himself for failing to remember Obscuro's tricky nature. "Let's just head to the bottom, alright?" He stepped by Ajisai and descended the staircase.

The trio descended the staircase with no more words spoken. Once they passed the ground level door, Naruto took notice that there wasn't going to be any light this time so he unsealed a matchbox and lit one. He held up the now-lit match and kept climbing down, the small light providing little illumination to the small tower.

They had soon reached another door, this time flanked by two torches (which Naruto lit). He grabbed a torch and made to grab the doorknob, but the door had already opened courtesy of Obscuro. But when he entered through the door, he stopped short and wide-eyed at a sight that, illuminated by the light of the torch he held, that would forever be ingrained in his memory.

Skulls. Piles and piles of skulls were scattered throughout the whole chamber. Bones decorated the supporting pillars and whole skeletons hung from the walls.

Naruto just stood there, dumbfounded by the sight. He then managed to stammer, "W-w-what is this p-p-place?"

Ajisai grabbed his shoulder and shook it, despite being unnerved herself. She had taken the remaining torch and thus now provided more light to the room. Naruto turned to her and calmed slightly at the reassuring look in her eyes.

A shadow passed over them and Naruto raised his torch. Floating beside him was Obscuro, looking over the contents of the room. The shadows cast from the walls and the bodily remains portrayed a very terrifying picture to the children; as though his true nature was revealed in this very room:

A monster. A killer of humans. A being who enjoyed death and despair. Naruto had just realized how would everyone else would perceive Obscuro, and the crazy thing? **They would be right**.

Naruto took a closer look at the shadow-demon's face. His teeth-filled jaw was curved in such a way that the blond would swear on his library that he was grinning with delight. Obscuro then floated deeper into the chamber, the two children sticking close to him. While he was infinitely scarier now, he provided at least some measure of security, however twisted it may have seemed.

They reached the end of the room where a small, dusty altar stood, decorated with red candles and a skull. A strange star-like pattern was drawn on it, with what seemed to be an eye at the center. Naruto lit up the candles and looked at the wall behind the altar. Hanging from said wall was a cloaked skeleton with a black hood, a false beard on the jawbone and a strange ring that stretched from the sides of its cranium upwards and met above the head. Two skeletal wings, painted black, stretched from its shoulders. A large scythe was held in its hands.

Naruto just looked at the skeleton with fright and a small sense of awe while Ajisai asked, "What is this place?"

Obscuro raised his claw and word began forming out of the dust. Naruto peeked to take a look, only to shiver when he managed to translate the words.

 _Memento Mori._

 _Remember Death._

 **-Obscuro-**

 **Hi! New chapter! Tada!**

 **What do you think the Tree actually is?**

 **In regards to the cathedral, I know that there are official names and terms for everything in it and pipe organs haven't been invented in Roman times, but this is told from Naruto's perspective. He doesn't know any of these terms and I am trying to describe it in the way that he sees things.**

 **As for the organ...my world, deal with it.**

 **Go check out my other stories and challenges!**

 **Read and Review! Review! REVIEW!**

 **Please?**


	15. Chapter 14 - Memento Mori

**Hi guys! Sorry this chapter took so long, but the past month has been hectic and I was working on my other story, but I HAVE RETURNED! This chapter might seem a little short, but there's a reason for it.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy and constructive criticism is welcome!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14 – Memento Mori**

 _Hokage Monument, Konohagakure…_

Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third Hokage smoked his pipe as he stood atop the Hokage Monument, on the stone-carved head of the Fourth Hokage. He gazed down at the illuminated streets of Konohagakure, shining brightly in contrast to the darkness of the night that had fallen over it. He saw the faint figures of the villagers moving below, going about their lives. He heard their faint chattering with a few barks of laughter. While his wrinkled face remained stoic, befitting his title of Hokage, he smiled inwardly at the sight as it brought warmth to his heart. This was what he, his predecessors, and his successor had fought for; peace for the village and happiness for its citizens. The sight never failed to please him.

An ANBU – Crane – appeared at his side, his body and head bowed low, breaking the old man from his tranquil thoughts. "Hokage-sama, the ANBU have finished their patrol for the week. No abnormalities or disturbances have been reported and everything appears secure. The villagers have recovered from the news of the Uchiha Massacre, so trade and other businesses haven't been harmed.

However, they have taken to idolize Itachi's younger brother Sasuke, and have praised him on the streets and if - by my observations at least – this keeps up, their favoritism could turn into near-worship. They have even begun addressing him as 'The Last Uchiha'".

The Hokage slightly frowned at that last tidbit. If that information was true, and it most likely was, considering the ninja-worshipping nature of the villagers (the civilian ones at least), then this could lead to worrisome results. A week after his brother had attacked and tortured him via genjutsu, Sasuke's personality took a drastic shift: he brooded for most of the time, didn't have any friends and relentlessly trained day after day, to the point of near exhaustion.

Or as the younger generation would say: an "emo".

He had stopped once to check up on the boy – as protocol dictated – but after asking him why he didn't play with other children anymore, the Uchiha scion simply declined and said:

" _I don't have time for them; they won't help me get stronger. I have to get stronger so I can avenge my clan and kill…_ _ **him.**_ _"_

That was both worrying and reassuring at the same time; on one hand, Sasuke would have a stronger motivation to train and when he will join the ninja ranks and awaken his clan's fabled **Sharingan** , he could very well become one of the strongest shinobi of his generation, if not _the_ strongest. On the other hand, Sasuke was now more susceptible to the words of others, especially if they promised him power. Such thinking could lead to arrogance, and when combined with the desire for revenge…it would not turn out well for anyone involved. He had seen it happen before.

"Post an ANBU guard to him discreetly and report to me any suspicious or unknown persons that try and contact him beyond the usual praise and parade. If handled wrong, that boy could become a flight risk and we cannot have that, especially with the last holder of the Sharingan."

Sarutobi turned to look down at Crane. "Did the…special sentries have anything to report?"

"No, sir. Danzo has been quiet as of late, and no suspicious moves have been made him."

Sarutobi nodded. "Good. Nevertheless, keep the sentries there. The situation here in the village is starting to give me a tingling feeling in my chest. I fear that Danzo may try something, so we cannot overlook anything." Crane nodded in response.

The Hokage inhaled and took another whiff of his pipe, his frown softening and his eyes gaining a sorrowful/worried hint to them. "What of the…other sentry?"

Crane shook his head. "Nothing new sir. Same as before; no-one has approached that house."

Hiruzen sighed. The sentry he was talking about, of course, was the sentry assigned to watch over the current home of Naruto Uzumaki. It had been a week since he had encountered the child and his foreign-looking companion, and after the stop at his house, he hasn't heard from the blond ever since. He had posted the sentry in hope that when the blond would return, he could talk to him more about what had happened that bloody night. He slightly flinched at the memory of the pained and grim look that his (in his mind) surrogate grandson gave him as he asked:

 _"Now do you see, Hokage-san? Why should I protect a village that tries to hurt me? That tries to take away what's mine?"_

Hiruzen's heart ached at those words as he looked down at the village with a forlorn gaze. _'The situation with Naruto has reached a point I had hoped it would never reach. The fact that villagers were willing to attack his only sanctuary has either pushed or broken his limit of tolerance to them. While most of the blame lies with the villagers,'_ he thought bitterly, _'some part of it does fall on me. Had I have kept a closer eye on him this would've never happened, and he would've become one of Konoha's finest shinobi._

 _Alas, he is now in a position where he can be influenced easily by anyone who shares his dislike for the village…and knowledge of his special status. While Danzo did bring up a few good points back at the council meeting last week, I know that my old friend will try something with him. I will not allow it, ROOT or no.'_

He turned to Crane and commanded: "Keep up the shifts. I don't want any unauthorized ninja or civilians apart from the ones I have personally assigned getting within walking distance of that clearing. If you see any suspicious activities, report them to me _immediately._ "

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The ANBU bowed.

Hiruzen kept looking at Crane before sighing again and asking in a slightly weary tone, "Do you have anything else to report?"

Crane kept his head down but didn't answer. A few seconds later, he hesitantly reached for his pouched and pulled out a scroll.

The Hokage stared at the scroll in confusion. By the intricate pattern on its side and the expensive-looking red material, it looked like a message scroll that the nobles used.

"Earlier today I was intercepted by a messenger as I was about to change my shift from border patrol. He gave me this scroll and asked me to deliver it to you, Hokage-sama."

"That's an odd request to ask of an ANBU…why didn't he ask the chunin gatekeepers? Better yet, why isn't this in my office?"

"The messenger was most adamant that you receive this scroll personally; I believe that he would have held onto the scroll until you personally came to accept it if he wasn't in some sort of hurry."

"A hurry? Why didn't you go after him?" The Hokage asked, growing more confused by the second.

"Because by the time I had inspected the scroll, he had vanished from my sight and senses."

A spark of alarm shot though Hiruzen. A messenger being able to disappear from a well-trained ANBU's sight? "What did this messenger look like and did he say anything else?"

"He wore a pitch-black suit with white and silver markings reaching to his face, which was hidden by a cap and a bandanna. His voice was muffled, but there wasn't any village symbol" Crane's voice started to have an edge of nervousness to it. "As for him saying anything else…I think this message will explain better than I."

Still confused about the situation, Hiruzen took the scroll from Crane's outstretched hand and opened it. His eyes fell on the greeting sentence as he read it in his mind.

'" _Lord Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, I greet you for a chance to establish a working financial relationship…"'_

As Hiruzen read through the letter, his eyes got wider and wider with each line until his old eyes looked like they were about to burst from their wrinkled sockets.

"Crane…are you sure that this mystery messenger had no symbol on his person?" he asked in a calm voice.

"100 percent sure sir."

"Hmm…I thank you for bringing this to my attention. You may leave now and resume your duties if you have any." Wordlessly, the ANBU vanished.

Hiruzen quickly closed the scroll and stored it in his white coat. A hand-sign and a puff of smoke later, he found himself at his office. He quickly went to his desk where he turned on the small lamp and reopened the scroll, this time reading its contents with higher care. His eyes didn't widen this time, but a sense of excitement, nervousness and curiosity rose up within him.

' _If…if this message is genuine, then the village may have an opportunity to flourish like never before. If my knowledge is up to date, none of the other villagers, major or minor, have been offered a chance like this. But something bothers me. Why Konoha? Why now of all times?'_

Just as he was about to re-review the contents in his mind once more, the Hokage's head shot up when a _poof_ was heard and a small red toad appeared on the table, carrying a green scroll.

"Greetings Hokage-sama, I am here to deliver the usual report from Jiraya-sama."

Hiruzen stared for a moment before shaking his head and nodding in recognition. "I see. It's that time of the month then? How is my student these days?"

The toad shrugged. "Ehh…the usual; peeping on women, collecting "research material", doing the occasional check-up on the network, etc."

Hiruzen just chuckled and took the green scroll from the frog. He read its contents, filed mental notes, and was about to dismiss the toad when a thought crept into his head, making him paused open-mouthed: should he tell Jiraya about Naruto and the…recent events involving him?

Hiruzen looked down at the scroll as he began to contemplate the reasons and consequences of that action. Jiraya was the boy's godfather, and as such was supposed to take care of him until he was of age. However, thanks to his student Minato's death and the importance of keeping up his spy network, he left Naruto to his care, at least until he became a genin or a chunin.

 _'Because of that decision and my negligence, Naruto was forced to fend for himself all these years – he never even asked about him when he came to visit,'_ Hiruzen thought sourly. _'As such, I don't believe he deserves to know about Naruto's little escapade to the forest from two years ago. The boy seems to have taken care of himself well, much better than when he was in the village at least, and I would bet my hat that his companion has helped him in that._

 _On the other hand, one cannot ignore the proverbial elephant in the room. Namely, Naruto's unique status; not only as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, but also as the heir to the Uzumaki clan, which includes Minato's Hiraishin no Jutsu_ _ **(Flying Thunder God Jutsu)**_ _as his birthright. The second thing alone makes him an important future factor in Konoha's strength. He is just too important for the village to lose over some past spite like this. Besides, knowing Jiraya, he will likely train Naruto for a chance to get to know him; that way he could forge a bond with the village, weak as it may be. He could also help with the matter on my desk as well...'_

Hiruzen raised his head to look at the toad, who was just standing there with a confused look. "I thank you for bringing this to me. However, when you return, inform Jiraya that he is to return to Konoha as soon as possible; some important issues have come up that I need to talk with personally." The toad nodded and poof-ed out of the room.

The Hokage sat down in his chair as he rubbed his forehead while looking down at the two scrolls. "This is going to be a headache...but there one thing I can be sure of: change is coming to my village, for good or ill I do not know, but I have a feeling that Naruto will be involved in this somehow..."

 **-Obscuro-**

Fear.

A word used to describe a state of emotion felt when one encounters someone or something that is believed by the individual to be dangerous or a threat. Terror is an extreme variant of fear.

All living creatures are capable of feeling or experiencing fear or terror. Currently, neither Naruto Uzumaki nor Ajisai of Ame were exempt from that rule, especially Naruto.

For as his gaze switched from the words drawn from dust upon the altar to the shadowy, winged visage of the shadow-demon Obscuro, inside the dimly lit chamber surrounded by skeletons, the only emotion he could feel right now was just that: pure terror.

His heart was beating faster and faster by the second. The shadows cast off the walls seemed to be closing in around him and the girl beside him, with the torch acting as the only deterrent against the darkness. His female companion gripped his free hand as he felt her shiver with the same abject fear. All the while, Obscuro floated over the altar, claw outstretched and red eyes piercing the darkness, the torch's light portraying him in a stark contrast in comparison to the light. The shadows that danced around the trio seemed to circle the shadow-demon, and Naruto could swear on the Kyuubi that despite their faintness…he could hear faint screams and whispers around them.

As the young blond gazed at the visage of his guardian, he would've bet his notebook that Obscuro was enjoying every second of this.

His eyes went back to the altar where the odd phrase was written in the dust:

 _Memento mori._

' _Remember death,'_ he translated in his mind. The phrase seemed odd to him; what did it exactly mean? What did it have to do with this place, if at all? (Considering the décor though, it did seem rather obvious).

" _ **It's exactly what it says, human."**_

Naruto nearly jumped from his spot at the booming phantom voice, but Ajisai's grip on his hand kept him rooted in place. Wait, wasn't that voice familiar?

' _Kyuubi?'_ he thought.

" _ **That's right. Thanks to our first contact, we can now mentally communicate with each other. You're practically oozing fear so I was curious to see what had shaken you up like that. Now I see why, and I find it rather fitting. Remember death; very apt."**_

' _Why?'_

The fox's voice seemed to drop an octave and Naruto could hear the fang-filled grin on its next words.

" _ **Do you know what the difference between demons and humans is?"**_

The blond opened his mouth a little bit, but the words couldn't seem to leave his mouth (or mind, in this case). From what he had seen of the Kyuubi and Obscuro, there were a lot of differences between them and him; strength, experience, knowledge, etc. Did the fox refer to something specific?

 _'There are...a lot of differences, from what I've seen'_

The fox chuckled. _**"Correct. The differences are too numerous or bothersome for me to name, so I will start off with the most basic thing: Life-span. As you have probably guessed, we demons can live for a very long time – if not forever – unless we are slain. Even then, when we ARE slain, we really aren't."**_

Naruto blinked in confusion. _'Not slain when you are slain? What do you mean by that?'_

 _ **"The living ink-stain over there, is that form that he is wearing real?"**_

 _'Umm...what do you mean?'_

 _ **"Come now, you're a smart little human. If someone slashes that form with a sword or blasts it with a jutsu, will it really kill him?"**_

 _'Of course not! It's just a mass...of...'_ Comprehension dawned on the young Uzumaki's face.

 _'Demons...don't have a... solid form?'_ That did make sense, after all, what with Obscuro's shapeshifting and shadow travel powers.

 _ **"The correct term is 'physical form', but yes, you are right. When we descend to the mortal world, we take a visible form to interact with the world and its denizens when we wish, but that is a pale reflection of our true selves. I, for example, am just a living mass of pure chakra; the form that you saw before was simply how most humans see me as.**_

 _ **As such, when we are 'slain', demons can simply reform ourselves at a different location at a later date."**_

Naruto slightly nodded as he mentally filed away the information. This was something Obscuro hadn't told him before, and the fox just gained a little more respect in his mind.

 _'That's interesting and all, but what does THAT have to do with...this?'_

 _ **"Because we cannot be truly killed, the concept of 'death' is very foreign to us, unlike you pathetically short-lived humans. That is one of the main differences between us; death does not hold any value to me."**_

Naruto was still confused, but as he looked up at the scythe-wielding skeleton and back at the words, his eyes widened at the implication of the words drawn from dust.

 _Remember death._

 _'Then...this means…that this place is...'_

The fox let out a sinister laugh that echoed in his mind. _**"That's right; this place is a memorial, a reminder of your own fragile mortality."**_

As the Kyuubi kept talking, strange images flashed in front of Naruto's eyes.

" _ **No matter how much you humans achieve during your lives…**_

 _A fancy-looking house in the woods burns to the ground. Inside, various animal heads that were displayed as trophies begin melting or turn to dust._

 _ **No matter how righteous you are…**_

 _The corpse of a monk, clothed in white, floats down a river as the wound on his back dirties the tunic with blood._

 _ **Or how cruel you are…**_

 _A mean-looking man with hatred in his eyes has his head placed upon a wooden block. A large crowd stands in front of him and jeers while throwing rocks, rotten food and mouldy shoes at his dirty form. A voice proclaims to the crowd the heinous crimes that the man has committed, and with each crime, the jeers grow louder. A muscular man with a black mask walks to the criminal, carrying a huge, bloody axe. Someone holds the man's head down as the axe is lifted up into the air…_

 _ **Whether you are a supreme ruler…**_

 _A bearded man lays impaled in front of a crumbling palace, smoke rising from the ground and savage hollers all around. His once magnificent and fancy robes are now tattered and covered in blood. A golden crown, jeweled with the most exotic gems, is placed atop the pointed pike, dented and dirty._

 _ **Or a lowly street rat…**_

 _A frail child lies against a street wall as rain pours down on him. His face is pale and covered in black spots, his eyes have a haunted look to them and his arms are so then that the bone is visible. He covered with little more than a cloak, torn in half from the shoulder._

… _ **Death comes to you**_ _ **all**_ _ **, and you become nothing more than the hollowed remains that you see before you."**_

…

…

…

A heavy silence fell over the trio after those words. Naruto tried to reply, but nothing came to mind. The reason? It. Was. True. No matter how much he tried to deny it, whatever excuse he may have had faded away at the sight of this hall. Despite not being able to hear the conversation, Ajisai knew by looking at Naruto's terror-stricken face that something had gone wrong. She was just to terrified to even say a word.

As for Obscuro, well…the less said the better.

The shadows on the walls crept closer and closer to the children. The cacophony of whispers grew louder in volume until some of them turn to wails of despair. The wings on the skeleton seemed to grow larger and larger until they seemed to stretch across half the room. Ajisai's hand now gripped him like iron, and her breath became fast-paced and heavy.

Naruto turned to the shadow-demon to ask him what was happening, but the sight he saw seemed to strike at his very soul:

A nightmarish grin – an actual grin – stretched across Obscuro's face. Ivory shadow fangs glistened in the torchlight as a revolting smell emanated from his maw. A faint sound, like rushing water, made the shadow-demon reveal an inky black tongue that thrummed with sheer delight.

But the most horrifying thing about him were the _eyes – oh spirits, the eyes! –_ that seemed to devour his very soul. The once glowing red eyes had gained an animalistic black slit, with a fiery orange pattern rippling around them. A vortex-like pattern of black stretched across the flaming sclera and gathered on the silted pupil.

The blond felt as though he was being dragged into an all-devouring void, a place where nothing came out of. Images of horror and macabre flashed though his mind – blood, crows, bones, fire, darkness. The sheer horror and fright that his teacher's form evoked made him scream incoherently with insanity in his mind.

 _Ohmygodwhatishehe'sgoingtodevourmeDeathShadowFangsScreamHorrorNohelpItstheendDevourdevourDEVOUR -!_

It was that final touch that made Naruto finally snap. He quickly turned around and dashed out the door, dragging Ajisai with him. He gripped the torch so hard that he felt like his palm was bleeding all the way up the stairs. After a few seconds of nonstop running, they had finally reached the doorway to the antechamber they had arrived at.

Naruto stumbled out panting up a storm. Sweat gleamed across his brow as his back hunched over. He dropped the torch to the ground as his now-free hand moved upwards and lay upon his yellow scalp.

He had never been more terrified in his short life. Not even a mob of villagers or a gutted corpse evoked that feeling of pure terror he had felt in that basement. That overwhelming feeling of death and despair was simply inhuman. The sheer irony of that last thought would have made him chuckle had he been less concerned with his sanity.

He took a look out the arches of the walkway. The sky was still cloudy and gray, with faint hints of sunlight streaming out. The ashen-looking stone that made up this place made him flash to the main hall where the statue of the hooded figure stood. With the final bits of coherent thought and the memory of the skeletal basement in his head, something clicked that would've him laugh like a madman, if he had the energy.

' _Death. This is a temple for death.'_

He heard a choked sob that made him turn. Ajisai looked like absolute hell. Her purple hair, still tied in that onion-like bun, was frazzled and messy. Her face was pale as tears slowly leaked from her green eyes. A soft whimper escaped her lips. She was shivering like mad as her small arms hugged her shoulders, gripping them hard. The terror-stricken expression on her face made Naruto want to throw up.

Her eyes met his in a silent plea for help. Naruto however, remained rooted in place. He knew that he should say something – anything! – to comfort her, to assure her that there was no danger but…

Could he really say that?

He raised his arm slightly to look at any signs of injury. But Ajisai must have taken that as an invitation, because she launched herself onto him and latched onto his shoulders, her face burying in the nape of his neck. She started openly sobbing into his shoulder as he slowly raised his arms to hold her.

Both of them knew that they should say something, anything, to alleviate the sheer emotion that shook their souls, but they just couldn't.

They just held onto each other in comfort, focusing only on each other, to try and forget.

All alone, in this house of the dead.

* * *

 **So...pretty macabre huh? That's the reason I cut the chapter here; so that there would be a bigger impact. This shows the first sign that Naruto's situation isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as well as a glimpse into Obscuro's true nature.**

 **I have been asked if this is a Lovecraft/Cthulhu crossover, and the answer is: not...exactly. This fic DOES use Lovecraftian elements and themes, but this fic uses several different sources as inspiration, and most of them are NOT anime, so this isn't really a crossover; rather an implementation of ideas into an original one. There is one source I am taking more from that the rest but that's...a secret for now! (Again: NOT Lovecraft).**

 **What did you think?**

 **Check out my other stories and go see the challenges on my profile! (Has ANYONE considered trying them?)**

 **Read and Review!**


	16. Chapter 15 - Ratione Obumbratio

**I do not own Naruto. I do own Obscuro and any OC's I will make.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15 - Ratione Obumbratio**

 _The large mansion stood tall as its moon-cast shadow loomed over the countryside. A tall iron fence ringed the grand house and a locked iron gate stood in the center. The windows were illuminated with a warm light as the shadows of guests and friends pranced around celebrating, while the cobblestone road outside lay empty and quiet, devoid of life._

 _Well, human life at least._

 _It slithered past the road and peeked through the iron bars of the fence. Armored guards kept vigil near the main doorway and along the sides of the house, eyes watching for any intruders, ready to kill them on the spot if need be. Their halberds glistened with a bright silver gleam as the torches on the walls cast their flickering light. No doubt there were more inside._

 _Impressive and dangerous…for a human._

 _It slipped through the bars and under the door, unseen by the iron-clad watchmen. Should it start now? It looked so tempting, so easy, to strangle them from inside their shells and_ _ **rip them apart and let the blood shower—**_

 _No, no. It was too soon. Besides, they weren't what it came for; iron does leave a bad taste._

 _It slithered along the emerald-green hallways, befitting that of a noble family – exquisitely decorated with paintings, artifacts, and treasures that could allow a man to live the rest of his life in peace, comfort and luxury. Each._

 _Not that it mattered._

 _As it slithered through the halls and up and down staircases, it noticed that some of the doors were guarded by similarly-equipped men like the ones he had seen outside. Most likely the bedrooms of important guests or the heirs._

 _Ah well, some other time perhaps. It would just add the spices to the…fun._

 _Depends on how one views it._

 _It had gone up and down every floor of the house before deciding that the time had come to begin. It slithered back to the ground floor and through the rich corridors in a near-blink of an eye before stopping under a small display case, in front of a large redwood door with golden handles. Despite the thickness of the door, it heard sounds of merriment and haughtiness behind it as clear as day. It slithered under the door and took a look at what was displayed before its hidden eyes._

 _It was a grand and opulent dining room with a long table in the center. The treasures and paintings on the seemingly-sparkling walls appeared more valuable than anything it had seen in the mansion: A sword inside a scabbard decorated with small priceless jewels, a set of gold and silver chalices with pictograms and images engraved so finely on them that it looked like they might come to life at the slightest brush of clothes. Several polished suits of armor lined the walls, weapons at their side like silent sentinels. Crystalline chandeliers hung from the arched, painted ceiling – a work that must have required a lot of effort and gold – and illuminated the whole room._

 _Around the table sat twenty men and women of slightly differing shapes and sizes. They all wore suits, dresses, and robes in the colors of the rainbow, made from what looked like the finest silk money could buy. Magnificent jewelry on the women's arms and necks glittered in the candlelight as they moved their hands across the table. The table held many delicious treats and mouthwatering meals, all slowly plucked by the nobles as they laughed and talked in high, arrogant voices that should've caused the windowpanes to vibrate._

 _It stayed and observed the humans as they kept conversing and devouring, all the while proving to it over and over again that their arrogance and stupidity knows no bounds. They think they are the rulers of the world – bah! They never learn, especially those…nobles. Human warriors, it could respect; they all strived for their own goals. But nobles had nothing to truly justify their life, they all sit in their palaces and cause suffering just to fatten themselves up._

 _Hypocritical, but then again…it was no human._

 _It was broken from its thoughts when a large pink mass on a silver plate was carried to the table by a well-dressed servant. The blob jiggled back and forth as the two-legged pigs salivated at its sight. It was set down and scooped into small slices, which were then passed around the table. The diners all raised their spoons and began digging in._

 _Time to strike. But first…the stage had to be fully set._

 _It extended its consciousness up to the chandeliers and pulled down. All the candles there blew out in an instant, blacking out the room with only a small candle on the table left to light up the small area around it, showing the startled looks on the filths' faces. They got up from their chairs and headed for the door._

 _Ah-ah-ah. We can't have that now, can we?_

 _The shadows slithered around the doorknobs and bound them tight, unseen by the humans' eyes. The nobles tried to open the doors but they didn't even budge, causing their fear to rise as some started shrieking like the pigs they were._

 _If it was human now, the grin on its proverbial face would've made a battle-hardened warrior shit himself and break down crying._

 _ **And death shall have no dominion**_

 _A creaking sound echoed throughout the room and the nobles froze in fear. They looked around for a possible source, too scared to call out when one of them suddenly started making choking noises. Looking behind them, the other nobles tried to make out where the horrifying noises from in the gloom. Some of the braver nobles shifted forward slightly and immediately let out horrified screams of terror at the sight before them: a noble floating in the air grasping at shadowy hands that held a tight grip around his throat._

 _Backing away from the sight and resuming their attempts to get a door open, they all froze when they heard the telltale_ _ **crack**_ _and_ _ **thud**_ _that spoke of something being broken and thrown on the floor. In this case, as some of the nobles saw as they looked back against their better judgment, their fellow noble's neck was the now broken object, and his body the discarded object._

 _ **Dead men naked they shall be one.**_

 _One of the nobles, known for his excessive cruelty, even among his peers, ignored the plight of his now dead companion and kept attempting to get out through the door, shouting profanities all the while. Noticing his lack of care for his fellow humans, the creature felt nothing but disgust and decided the human would be next. Sending out its shadows like tentacles, the creature slowly bound the foolish human in what looked like a cocoon of shadow, and began tightening the threads, slowly crushing the noble inside._

 _The panicked and pain filled screams that came from the cocoon soon began to waver and quiet, as the amount of blood and other bodily fluids seeping from it increased in quantity, until at last, with a loud_ _ **crunch**_ _, the cocoon collapsed on itself and then disappeared, leaving the gelatin like remains to fall to the floor with a sickening_ _ **splat**_ _._

 _ **With the man in the wind and the west moon;**_

 _A sword hovered in the air, its handle coated in darkness before it began to spin rapidly, its silver blade becoming nothing but a flickering glimmer of metal in the pale candlelight. Before anyone could react, too entranced by the beauty of the spinning blade of death, it was flung forth and like an old woodmill's buzz saw, cut another noble's arms and legs leg off in quick succession. After it was finished its gruesome work the blade fell to the floor, leaving the now-limbless dying man to fall to the floor and bleed to death amongst his screams of pain._

 _ **When their bones are picked clean, and their bones are gone;**_

 _One of the nobles, an older woman with plenty of jewelry adorning her person, ran towards the table in an attempt to get the single candle that was lit and use it to light any other candles that she could get a hold of. Somehow, she managed to get to the table and grab the candle, whether or by luck or being allowed to get to it she would never find out. Just as she was lighting another candle, the fire flared, and instead of spreading to the other candle like she assumed, the flames slowly engulfed her hand. She dropped the candle on the ground, its flame going out in the process. She began to scream in agony, waving her hand in a vain attempt to put out the flames, something that seemed to just entice the flame to spread, which it did as it slowly crept up the woman's arm followed by fully engulfing her form in what seemed to be a funeral pyre. As the flames crept higher so did her screams, until finally, they stopped entirely._

 _ **They shall have stars at elbow and foot;**_

 _Chains snapped from their anchor points in the ceiling, allowing rumble and candelabras to fall and crash to the floor, shrapnel and other debris peppering the nobles with cuts, bruises and in one case a stone through his head. The chains fell to the floor, the loud clanging of metal striking stone echoing through the room. Broken bits of metal and stone slowly rose up and collected around one of the nobles, a thin woman who enjoyed using others for her bodily pleasures, and began to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster until she was trapped in a spinning vortex of death the ripped her apart with stone and metal._

 _ **Though they go mad they shall be sane,**_

 _Not a second later the chains rose up, swaying back and forth like vipers watching a snake charmer, before flashing forward, wrapping themselves around a fat man. They lifted him in the air, stretching his limbs out as if he was suspended on a medieval stretching rack. Pulling harshly on his torso and waist, the chains ripped the man in half before dropping to the ground lifeless._

 _ **Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;**_

 _The suits of armor that had stood so lifelessly before jumped off of their pedestals, crashing heavily to the floor with loud metallic clangs. The armor began to advance, marching together towards those they had previously guarded silently. The suits of armor began to separate from their groups and each stood in front of one of the people remaining in the room. Standing silently, the empty knights stood in front of their charges as if awaiting some signal or order. That signal came in the form of a sword being raised and a downward swing; the expression of horror on the man's face still etched up his dead face._

 _ **Though lovers be lost love shall not;**_

 _Swords, axes, maces, and flails. All raised descended, the horrified screams and shrieks dying equally as fast as the remaining humans in the room. These disgusting humans that the creature hated so much._

 _ **And death shall have no dominion.**_

 _And silence fell upon the room, for Death does not speak._

 **-Obscuro-**

The sound of a slamming door woke Obscuro from its euphoria-induced flashback. It tried to see what had happened, but it could not seem to draw itself from the glorious sight before it. From the piles of bone to the garbed skeleton, they all sent the same message. The message of death.

Death – such a fascinating yet simple concept. The end of life. The final phase of the soul.

Humans fear it, yet they walk among it. They cry away from its cold touch, yet they show satisfaction on their faces when they guide it towards others. They sing songs, write stories and poems, create practices and even entire cultures around death – yet when their time comes, when the invisible scythe swings to reap their souls, they shriek in terror, begging on their knees, or face it with fear etched into their hearts.

Yet…some of them welcomed it with a smile, as though greeting an old friend. Sometimes on a large bed surrounded by family, or on the battlefield surrounded by the bodies of their fallen comrades and enemies.

How baffling.

Oh, it knew death, no doubt about it. It had walked alongside it for as long as it could remember. It had taken different forms seen it through different eyes, but the act itself was always the same, no matter to whom or what it applied to.

But what about the next phase. What lay beyond? Was there something behind the veil of mortality?

Humans had thought of the concept of an afterlife for as long as belief and religion itself. Despite their awe or fear of death, there was _always_ the idea that something lay beyond the final toll of the phantasmal bell, a place where the Pale Rider took them when their sands of time had run out.

But it couldn't see it. It had searched both the minds and scriptures of men for an answer to this question, but despite the many differing and detailed accounts, they all lacked the same thing: proof.

Logically speaking of course, it was impossible to get proof. How can one be assured of what lies beyond the grave, especially when they can tell it to none?

Better yet, even if there was an answer to its question, did it even apply to itself or its distant demon-kin? Would the answer ever reveal itself to someone like itself, who has been blessed with eternity?

How baffling. So inexplicably baffling.

No…it was more than baffling; it was unknown – and when it came to the unknown, the shadow-demon craved to make it known to itself. A rather odd choice for a demon, but who or what could judge it? Besides, it served to pass the time.

So as it traversed the land, Obscuro observed the humans and their relationship with death. It watched as they died, whether by their hands…or its own.

Whenever it chose a target or targets, it was indiscriminate; race, gender, religion, social class – none of that mattered. All that mattered was the hunt, the joy, the discovery of their reactions to the imminent demise of themselves and their friends – and the hope of seeing a faint glimpse at the other side of the veil. For what better way to try and see what lay beyond death…

…than to stare it straight in the face?

Although the shadow-demon did have a very minor preference to arrogant high-class pigs who do nothing to justify their lives – not that Obscuro would ever admit it.

But no answer came. For years and years, the answer remained hidden from its all-seeing eyes. It had killed humans of all colors and sizes, read some of the holiest and detailed scriptures, researched obscure -even forbidden- rituals…but it found nothing.

Not one shred of actual proof.

But quitting was not an option. Obscuro never quit.

Faint sounds of sobbing slowly started to seep through the walls. While nearly silent to human ears thanks to the walls and the location of the chamber…well, Obscuro was not a human.

' _ **Hm. It seems like they are struggling to cope with this new situation'**_ it thought. _**'On the other hand, I have never met a human that did**_ _ **not**_ _ **have some outward reaction to something like this.'**_

Not an ounce of pity or remorse passed through those thoughts, but simultaneously neither did any condensation or arrogance.

As the faint sobbing continued, Obscuro looked at the winged skeleton once more, letting a shiver of delight flow through its nonexistent body. Truly, this place was marvelous. The shadow-demon levitated a stray skull from the floor and held it up to its shadowy face, examining it as though it were a work of art, hiding secrets from forgotten pasts – and Obscuro was the expert on such matters.

A minute passed and the sobbing persisted. While the shadow-demon didn't really care about the children's emotional reaction to its little…euphoric lapse, it had to remind itself that the past week or two has been very taxing on them, what with witnessing a massacre committed by his own hands, leaving the one place they know no one else can get to but the three of them (temporarily at least), traveling halfway across the continent to a place that doesn't work within the natural law, and now witnessing a spectacle that only appeared in the most depraved nightmares a human can think of.

The "traveling across the continent" aside, such an ordeal would show its toll on any man, much less two children.

' _ **Perhaps I should go and check on them…we have so much to do after all.'**_

With that thought in mind, Obscuro slithered under the door and up the stairs, entering the antechamber with the open-walled walkway.

Just like the shadow-demon thought, there he saw the two children clinging on to one another, with muffled sobs escaping them. Both of their clothes were ruffled and sweat was glistening on their faces. Naruto was hugging Ajisai, letting her cry on his shoulder, his eyes closed with a few tears escaping them. He didn't actually sob, but his breath was ragged, as though he was choking on air. Once or twice he whispered something in the purple-haired girl's ear, but he seemed to be holding on better.

What a touching scene. But time waits for no man or child.

It pulled the small blackboard from the shadows and rapped the chalk on it. The two orphans jumped at the noise and looked towards him, eyes wide with fear and surprise. But while Ajisai's light-green eyes were still dripping tears, Naruto's blue eyes widened in shock for a moment before slightly narrowing at the shadow-demon, a glint of suspicion and…acceptance(?) flashing through them.

While a tad confused at the flash of emotion he just saw, he nonetheless began writing.

"It seems you saw my euphoric episode down there. I will not apologize for that, but I do agree that I should have tried to quell it slightly. Are you well?"

The two read the message as they rubbed their eyes to wipe the tears away. When they reached the last sentence, Ajisai let out a hoarse bark of sarcastic laughter.

"Yes, you should have. Does it look like we're 'well'? What was that place!?"

Obscuro erased the board and lifted the chalk to reply, but Naruto spoke up, albeit in a wavering voice.

"In the v-vision I had…the white being t-told me to ' _seek out the house of the_ dead'. That's what t-this place…it's a temple for death. T-that chamber was…r-related to it, right?"

Surprised at the boy's answer, Obscuro wrote: "That is a very good guess – one that I believe in as well. Good work."

A hint of surprise showed in Naruto's face – no doubt because of the compliment – before he returned his narrowed stare at Obscuro. His lips parted slightly as if to say something, but then he seemed to stop and then sigh in resignation.

"What do you wish to say?"

Naruto looked down at the ground for a few seconds before letting out a slight chuckle.

"It's just that…looking at it now, I realize that I shouldn't really be surprised."

He looked up from the floor and met the shadow-demon's eyes. "That…episode you had down there… I'm probably gonna have nightmares because of it for years…but I knew that you were feeling happy down there…In a weird, depraved sort of way and to be honest? It kind of fits you.

You told me what you are the first day we talked to one another. You didn't tell me what a 'shadow-demon' exactly meant, but now? I think I understand, and you know what?

I really don't care."

He started rubbing Ajisai's shoulders as she traded looks between the two of them. "You've done so much for me these past two years. You gave me knowledge, you're showing me places that I didn't think I'd ever go to…and you saved me from that village. If I start to fear you now just because of _what_ you are and not _who_ you are and what you did to help me and Ajisai-chan, then I would be just like those villagers."

His eyes narrowed in disgust. "I would rather spit on myself than be like them."

A moment of silence passed as Obscuro hovered in place. Then, the shadow-demon wrote once more.

"It would seem that all those lessons finally started to take root in your head. If I am to be honest with myself, I thought you would have cracked long before this. I see now that I am wrong. No student of mine would ever succumb to insanity over something like this."

A tired grin grew on Naruto's face as a chuckle escaped his lips, his back slightly straightening from the praise. Ajisai looked at Naruto before returning her gaze to Obscuro and straightening her own back, a determined flash in her eyes.

She said nothing, but no words were needed. Truly, these children were unique.

"Now then, I believe it is best we retire for the day. There should be living quarters around here somewhere, so if you would stay here for a moment, I will find the living quarters. For the record, this is a _cathedral_ , not a temple. Remember?"

The children nodded. "Good. So, if you don't mind, I'll be back soon."

Obscuro was about to withdraw the board and slither away before snapping it back up again and writing.

"By the way, what you said about the villagers –"

"Yeah, yeah I know, hypocrite. But you aren't one to talk, ya know?"

* * *

 **Hi guys! Sorry that I've been away, but a mixture of writer's block and tests is the worst recipe for stagnation.**

 **Not to worry though folks, my "On Black Wings" story will get an update soon!**

 **The title roughly translates to "The Nature of Shadows". If there is a better translation, tell me.**

 **The poem featured here is "And Death shall have no Dominion" by Dylan Thomas. That particular scene was written by my beta MetalmanMecha. What do you think of its inclusion in the chapter?**

 **What do you all think of the new chapter and what did you like best?**

 **Go check out my other stories and the challenges on my profile! I have a new Bleach x Evangelion challenge out!**

 **Read and review!**


End file.
